Koudoukou: Fool's Gold
by Akraa
Summary: There is a fine line between idiocy and genius. Uzumaki Naruto has no clue where that line is. A teacher, a soldier and a madman are determined not to let the Golden Fool of Konoha dwindle. Be advised that this story may contain mature content.
1. Chapter 1

Credit where credit is due, character and setting elements from the Naruto franchise and other miscellaneous sources are property of Kishimoto or their respective owners. No profit is being made on this work of fiction.

Koudoukou

[Fool's Gold]

"Iruka, I really have no clue what to do," the silver haired man in a blue mask with a headband covered with the stylized leaf symbol head plate over his left eye mumbled, "I can't seem to teach him anything… and I can feel his resentment growing."

The brown haired man with a scar over the bridge of his nose frowned before sighing deeply, "Kakashi… I had similar problems when he was in my class. Naruto… he has special needs. If you tell him something it just goes in one ear and out the other. The trick is to show him, and get him to puzzle it out. As far as that goes he's brilliant, but totally unsuited for structured learning," Iruka said with a frown, "I know you have to keep the Uchiha boy contained and watch him carefully, but if you want Naruto's potential to go anywhere… you need to give him a more personal sort of attention. The few things he does know are mainly from the short opportunities I've had to give him just that."

Kakashi's one visible eye turned downward in a frown, "I'm so busy keeping Sasuke occupied and satisfied, that that isn't practical. He's already showing the signs of the taint, and anything he views as special help for Naruto would only make matters worse," Kakashi said in a sad voice, "It's so frustrating."

"I don't see why the council is so obsessed about retaining and resurrecting a clan of traitors. Itachi was the only good one of the lot," Iruka grumbled.

Kakashi leaned back into the chair and fiddled with the can of beer in his hand, "Public perception," Kakashi said, "I hate politics. Besides, Itachi didn't want him to know that the entire clan was as rotten as year old apples. It's the only reason I'm giving the kid a chance, out of respect for Itachi's wishes. I'm not sure how he'll react when he reaches Jounin level and learns of it or some older ninja breaks the truth of the betrayal toward him. He isn't nearly as stable as Naruto was."

Iruka winced and nodded.

"Beyond that, the civilian world views the Uchiha as some sort of clan of super-beings. If we want to keep the client base that perception offers we have to at least try to keep him contained," Kakashi said with a scowl.

Iruka just grunted as he got up and tossed his can in the bin before pulling another pair from the fridge for himself and his guest.

"So what will you do about Naruto and Sakura?" Iruka asked, trying to move away from the utterly depressing subject of the Uchiha clan.

"I'm only really concerned about Naruto here," Kakashi said with a grimace, "I'm not sure if Sakura even really wants to be a ninja for any reason beyond catching the Uchiha's eye. It's why they had her placed on the team, in hopes that she'd lure him into propagating the line. Inoichi put his foot down when they suggested using his little girl to do so. However the members of the Haruno clan are ignorant merchants who aren't nauseated by the thought, so she was ideal out of those who had the potential to pass."

Iruka nodded, "What do you think she'll do when he turns?" he asked hesitantly.

"You shouldn't say such things. But I'd say either suicide, retirement, betrayal or if something incredibly unlikely happens to give her a reason to be a kunoichi other than her fixation, repeated attempts to sway him back," Kakashi said.

"Ugh… can we just stop talking about anything related to the Uchiha clan?!" Iruka complained as he swigged hard from the can in his hand.

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, "I wish I could just say screw it. If I knew the council wouldn't have my hide I'd throw him against some absurdly powerful opponent on the first C rank we take to get bumped off. Maybe drug out Naruto to keep him out of the fight," Kakashi said before staring at his beer can in shock.

Iruka grimaced, "You shouldn't say things like that… they could make a case for treason if anyone loyal to the old bastards heard it," he chastised and Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"As it is now, I just can't give Naruto what he needs," Kakashi grumbled, "And every time I look at his face, I see sensei… just like every other damn ninja that doesn't buy the propaganda. I just wish the old monkey would come out and say it."

Kakashi held up his hand to stop Iruka's response, "I know, I know, he'd be in more danger than any sensei could protect him from. Iwagakure no Sato [the Village of Hidden Rock] would want to kill him, Kumogakure no Sato [The Village of Hidden Clouds] wouldn't rest until they 'rescued' him, and that's before we even get to the villagers. They'd take it as though he'd somehow cast some sort of demon spell on everyone important and our economy would shrivel and die in weeks," he said with a heavy sigh.

"So you're between a rock, idiots, and a soft place," Iruka said and Kakashi groaned at his joke.

"Well I don't know if I'd call Kumo soft, but incredibly sympathetic to outcasts and the downtrodden, yeah," he said with a shrug before looking at his beer and laughing, "This stuff is good. Where'd you get it?"

"Got five cases off a merchant from Kusa no Kuni [the Land of Grass]," Iruka said proudly.

"Maa," Kakashi said with an angry look, "It just frustrates the hell out of me, and that pisses me off to the extent that I want to just go off on a rampage," he said with a grimace.

"That won't help," Iruka said sympathetically, "Cathartic, maybe, helpful, no."

"Just tell me what to do Iruka… you're the wise teacher guy. It's not like I have any other personal students of the Professor's educational program to ask, and I can't very well bother the old monkey personally, that would cause too many questions," Kakashi said in exasperation as he winged the empty can to hit Iruka in the forehead and elicit a growl from him while Kakashi laughed.

"Puzzles," Iruka said while rubbing his bruised forehead, "That's it… just show him something and give him hints, like puzzles. Maybe call in some favors, at least quiet ones."

"I'm not asking Gai," Kakashi said with a scowl.

"Not even for your sensei's son?" Iruka said with a tiny smile.

"You're a manipulative dick," Kakashi said as he cracked open the beer Iruka had brought him from the fridge, "Alright, fine. His taijutsu [Body Arts] skills suck anyway."

"Show him what fuuinjutsu [the Art of Sealing] can do," Iruka said with a smirk, "That's one thing that the Uchiha won't complain about you teaching him. As long as you stick to things that would interest Naruto and be useful, but seem useless in his little crusade to kill the only worthwhile Uchiha. You've got a Mastery of Fuuinjutsu, give it a go."

Kakashi grimaced, "That's the problem, and I've got no clue what will get Naruto's attention. And I'm sure if I tried to teach him fuuinjutsu he'd be so damned bored he'd lose interest in minutes."

"Just show him what it can do, and drop hints at the things behind it," Iruka said, "Don't go in depth and tell him to use his clones to practice it, that way it won't kill him when he starts puzzling it out by trial and error."

"Ooookay," Kakashi said, "That will clean up a few of the bigger holes."

"Analogies," Iruka said as his face lit up and Kakashi swore he hallucinated a light bulb above his head, "Use analogies. I have no clue how the hell things work in his twisted little mind, but even with strange as hell analogies he seems to be able to work out what you meant in the twenty minute explanation that came before. I couldn't get him to produce a Henge [transformation] until I suggested to him it was like changing clothes. How he went from that to performing the jutsu is beyond me."

Kakashi snorted.

"The biggest thing you're going to need to teach him is how to survive," Iruka said with a grimace, "Your only real option there will make him hate you. Your other two would find it funny though."

"Huh?" Kakashi asked.

"Go after him, all out, not like your little test, over and over and over for the slightest provocation," Iruka said with a snort, "It would break him of his head first approach if he gained the assumption that against any real ninja he'll always be facing a massive disparity in power. If only to stop getting smashed down immediately every time, he'll figure it out. The others will view it as him simply getting his, but you'll be teaching him the most valuable lesson he could possibly learn. Of course he'll hate your guts until he figures it out."

"I don't want him to hate me though," Kakashi said with one of the most genuine looks of sadness and hurt on his face that Iruka, or most people for that matter, were likely to ever see on him, "He's really the only thing I've got left… Even if he isn't sensei's kid… It's close enough that I can at least pretend, right? I don't want him to hate me."

"Would you rather he hated you for being 'mean' or hated you for leaving him weak?" Iruka asked and Kakashi looked like he'd been slapped.

"You spend too much time with the monkey," Kakashi groused, "Some snot nosed punk ain't supposed to talk like that."

Iruka laughed, "Hai teichou [captain]," he responded smugly.

"If I have Gai give him remedial taijutsu and he starts wearing an orange spandex suit you better have a healer on hand capable of curing a chidori [thousand birds assassination technique] through the chest," Kakashi said as he shook the can, which had disappeared noticeably faster than the last, over his mouth in hopes of dislodging the drop sticking to the rim of the opening.

"Yeah, yeah," Iruka said, "Even that could be an improvement over what he's already prone to wearing."

Kakashi just grunted as he went to the fridge and grabbed another beer without asking.

"Obito would be weeping right now. I'm training some kid that wants to kill the only other person since him to overcome the taint," Kakashi said glumly, "More than that, he's convinced that the almighty Sharingan will make him powerful by its own virtue, without considering the sheer amount of training it takes to properly use what it copies. Truthfully it's worse than the old Uchiha clan. At least they didn't believe their own hype."

"You seem determined to make yourself depressed," Iruka commented while peering at him over steeple fingers.

"Did you dye your hair blond and become a Yamanaka when I wasn't looking?" Kakashi retorted.

"Feh, you know what, forget it," Iruka said.

"Screw you Iruka," Kakashi said and the man laughed and leaned back in his chair.

"Stop bitching. It reminds me of when I served under you… Good times, good times."

* * *

"WAKE UP!"

"Ahhh!" the blond boy screamed as he flew out of his bed and into the air as he scrambled backwards away from the voice, "Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here? It's…"

He glanced out at the pre-dawn light and then at his clock, "FOUR THIRTY IN THE MORNING!"

"Good to see you too Naruto," Kakashi said with a grin, "Get your things on. I recommend you wear something lighter than your normal outfit. You'll sweat to death if you don't wear something light."

Naruto glared at him, "Is this another trick like the no eating breakfast thing? And where's Sasuke and Sakura?" he asked as he glanced around his room.

"No, it's not a trick, and neither of them need remedial taijutsu training like you do," Kakashi said with a smirk when Naruto glared at him. Iruka was right. Their ever more convoluted drunken conversation the previous night was proving useful. It seemed that goading him wasn't just fun, but a good motivator.

"What are you talking about?! Sasuke's not better than me, and Sakura gets tired so fast in spars," Naruto pouted.

"Who hits harder, you or Sakura?" Kakashi asked and Naruto winced in memory.

"Sakura," he said while rubbing an imaginary bruise on his face.

"Who knows more taijutsu counters, you or Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto growled out, "Sasuke. I don't see where this is going."

"Who hasn't won a single taijutsu only match on our team yet, not including by waiting until Sakura's endurance ran out?" Kakashi said as his eye turned upward into a U-shaped smile.

"I hate you Kakashi-sensei," Naruto grumbled.

"Get dressed, I've managed to find someone willing to give you remedial lessons so you're not a liability in that department," Kakashi said as he walked out of his bedroom, "And don't forget to wear something light."

Naruto scowled at his doorway for several seconds before stripping down and pulling on a pair of his orange pants, before settling for just wearing the black t-shirt he usually wore under his jacket. He quickly strapped on his equipment pouch and walked out to the kitchen area outside his room where Kakashi was waiting.

Kakashi eyed him over before pronouncing him "Acceptable," before grabbing him by the collar and frog marching him out the door.

"EH?! Kakashi-sensei! Let go of me!" Naruto growled, swatting at him before the entire world seemed to lurch dizzily and they were suddenly in a training ground he recognized. It wasn't that far from his home. A loud and repetitive 'THWOCK' sound was coming from somewhere to his left.

"Ahah! My eternal rival! You have come! So this is your youthful student who wished to join our blazing taijutsu training?" an extremely loud voice cried out from right behind him.

Naruto naturally shrieked like a girl as he spun around to view the memorable figure of Maito Gai… then shrieked like a girl again.

Kakashi swatted him on the back of the head, "Naruto, this will be your new taijutsu instructor, Maito Gai," he said while trying to suppress his laughter, though his eye refused to stop twinkling.

"Eyebrows…" Naruto mumbled, unable to think of anything to say and Gai flashed him a toothy smile causing a blinding glint of light to hit him square in the eyes. As he winced and closed his eyes he couldn't help but wonder how it could be so bright when the sun wasn't up yet.

"I see my raging inferno of youth is so great you must avert your eyes! No matter, we shall stoke your own flames until you burn as brightly as the sun Naruto-san!" Gai shouted.

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked his teacher nervously and received no reply, "Kakashi-sensei?"

He looked to his right where his teacher had been only a moment before and realized he had disappeared. His face blanched as Gai waved him toward him.

"Naruto-san, we must test your growing skills," Gai said waving him toward him, "Please show me what you have learned."

"Uhh…" Naruto said dumbly.

"I assure you, you will not hurt me. I'm a trained taijutsu Master," Gai said comfortingly, unaware that that was not the reason for the reaction.

"Oooh-kay," Naruto said as he dashed forward and attacked Gai. As seconds passed with him wildly swinging at the air, Gai's smile dimmed and by the time Naruto stopped and was just growling in frustration it was a full blown frown.

"Why are you holding back?" Gai asked, more than a little upset that Kakashi had given him a student that would not give his best effort.

"Holding back? You eyebrow freak! RHAAAGH!" Naruto growled before trying once more to pound him only to receive more frustration.

"Why aren't you using chakra to enhance your blows? To increase your speed?" Gai asked with a confused face, "I told you that you wouldn't hurt me."

"Wha? Chakra to en-pants?" Naruto asked stopping to scratch his head, "What's that mean?"

Gai looked at him with wide eyes for a moment before whispering, "Oh dear."

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked looking around for some sort of threat.

Gai looked like he was struggling to come to terms with something before he spoke very carefully, "I think that my eternal rival was right to bring you here," he said, "You have a long way to go before you can become a proper taijutsu rival for my Lee, but I need to know if you have the determination needed, because it will be very hard. I will be teaching you everything, from the bottom up."

"What? Isn't my taijutsu any good at all? I mean I know you're a jounin and stuff so of course you're better!" Naruto protested and Gai shook his head.

"That is not taijutsu," Gai said, "I would call it martial arts, but it is more like civilian bar brawling. Taijutsu is considered a ninja art for a reason."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at that, "Why would that be? I mean it's just fighting," he said with a shrug and Gai looked horrified.

"Taijutsu is far different from combat as civilians understand it," Gai said, "The techniques used in it are impossible for even the fittest civilian martial artist to achieve. It is because of chakra that this is possible."

Gai grimaced, "Much like the majority of fuuinjutsu and ijutsu [Healing Arts] experts are civilians, the vast majority of taijutsu experts are ninja, monks, youhei [mercenaries] or samurai, though samurai and youhei favor the branch of taijutsu called kenjutsu [Arts of the Blade], which utilizes weapons, over the bare handed methods," he said, "This difference between simple martial arts and taijutsu is because taijutsu is inherently intended to be fatal. The different styles of taijutsu utilize chakra to move faster, strike harder, throw harder, or withstand blows that would kill a normal person."

"Wait… then how come I've never seen anyone using hand seals for taijutsu?" Naruto asked curiously and Gai resisted the urge to groan in frustration.

"Because when using taijutsu it's contained entirely within the body," Gai said.

"Whuh?" Naruto replied eloquently and Gai shook his head.

Deciding to go with Kakashi's advice he spoke once more, "Gather your chakra," he ordered and Naruto quirked an eyebrow before he put his hands together in a tiger seal and concentrated before he flew off his feet as the ground buckled beneath him and smacked his head on the ground.

"This is ridiculous," Gai said with a grimace, "You have no chakra control do you?"

"How do you control chakra? I mean doesn't it just do whatever it is chakra does?" Naruto asked back.

"Alright then, the first part of your taijutsu training will be…" Gai said while rubbing his chin as though puzzling out a particularly difficult problem.

When Naruto leaned forward expectantly to hear about the cool technique Gai was going to teach him, Gai gave him a dazzling smile with his thumb up and cried, "Tree climbing!"

The sound of Naruto falling on his face echoed over the training ground. He scrambled to his feet and looked at Gai like he was crazy, though not for the usual reasons.

"How does tree climbing help me become better at taijutsu?" Naruto asked and Gai shrugged.

"It's one of those mystical taijutsu training techniques that apprentices don't understand," Gai said, deciding it wasn't worth the effort of having to repeat himself in the future. He'd just distribute tips and let him figure it out as he went.

"Or we could use the old 'drop the six hundred pound rock on the student's hand until they learn how to withstand it and gain enlightenment'…" Gai suggested.

"Right, mystic training technique, sort of like the whole snatch the stone from my hand thing, tree climbing, got it," Naruto said quickly.

Gai shook his head over the reference to one of the worst taijutsu clichés ever before grinning once more, "The trick of this is to climb without hands!"

"WHAT?! Oh… mystical taijutsu training technique, gotcha," Naruto said, nodding sagely before looking confused, "So how am I supposed to climb it?"

"Your first hint is that you must push chakra out of your feet to stick to the tree," Gai said and pointed at the tree before pausing for a moment, "Naruto-san? Is there truth in that you have learned the most youthful of training techniques?"

"What?" Naruto asked, repeating his now most often used in Gai's presence phrase.

"The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Shadow Clone Art]," Gai said, "It is a wondrous technique that allows someone to burn their fires of youth hotter and faster and put more hard work into a single day. I only wish my Lee could use it."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, but yeah, I know the Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Multiple Shadow Clone Art]," Naruto said and Gai blinked.

"Even better… wait, no one told you of the main use of this technique?" Gai asked in confusion.

Naruto looked sheepish, "Well, umm, I read the scroll, but it was just a lot of words and was really boring, all about that it was dangerous for some reason, but it's not really," he said with a shrug and Gai paled.

"Naruto-san," Gai said, "The Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu… can kill you if used improperly."

Naruto stiffened and went pale, before stammering out a whispered, "How?"

"The Tajuu Kage Bunshin requires even less chakra than the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and hence can produce even more clones, but this makes it far more dangerous as well. Those clones use up your chakra just as though it were you using, meaning that if you made ninety nine of them, and used them in a taijutsu battle, they would drain your chakra a hundred times faster than usual," Gai said and Naruto frowned.

"But I haven't felt any drain…"

"That is likely for two reasons. First you did not know that chakra use was essential to taijutsu and hence have not drained any during a fight before this, and second, with that many clones it is impossible to feel, even when you are on the verge of death from lack of chakra," Gai said somberly, "It is what makes that technique forbidden."

"Losing all of your chakra will kill you?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Yes, chakra is the essence of life itself. When life leaves the body, the chakra leaves with it, and when there is no more chakra, there is no more life," Gai said, "And because the normal sensation of chakra loss is spread out over so many only the most sensitive of ninja could feel its loss."

Naruto blinked, "But I've never run out of chakra before," he retorted.

Gai nodded slowly. Kakashi had told him that Naruto was a true prodigy of stamina, with a level of chakra somewhere in between his own and his eternal rival's, easily an A-rank chakra capacity, and at such a young and tender age no less.

"It is because you have an exceptionally large amount of chakra, and it is that virtue that makes it especially dangerous to you. Until you become sensitive enough to detect the loss in ever increasing numbers of clones you should begin with merely five. This means that you'll use up your energy six times faster than usual," Gai said.

"But how will that help me train?" Naruto asked.

"Because such a youthful training technique as that causes all things that you learn and practice to return to you when your clone dispels, allowing the hours of hard work you have put in as each clone to be completed more quickly," Gai said with a smile, before deciding to give him some encouragement, "If your chakra reserves are as large as I believe they are, you likely have twice as much as you would need for a full day of training. However our sessions are only four hours long and Kakashi-san has assured me that you can afford the majority of chakra in these lessons until you are caught up, so you can make five clones to practice with, thus allowing you to fit thirty two hours of training and hard work into our sessions!"

A large sweat drop appeared on Gai's forehead as he realized Naruto had stopped listening to him and was inspecting a wad of earwax he'd dug out of his ear.

"You can fit more training into less time as long as you have enough chakra," Gai said, "During our sessions use five clones to train, otherwise ask your sensei how many he wants you to use. Don't use more than you're instructed for now or it will kill you from chakra exhaustion."

Naruto seemed to understand that and nodded.

"Now, just channel chakra to your feet and run up the tree a few times before creating your clones to train with you," Gai instructed and Naruto nodded.

He put his hands together once more in the tora [tiger] seal and channeled his chakra, this time a lot less than before and pushed it out from his feet before running toward the tree, only to fall face first as the huge clods of dirt stuck to his feet tripped him.

"When you lift your foot you must release the flow of chakra from it or you will pull whatever you are attached to along with you," Gai advised and Naruto pulled himself up and nodded before making another run at the tree.

A loud 'CRACK' resounded across the grounds, followed by 'OOMPH!'

"If you use too much chakra it will buckle the bark outward in the attempt to pull it tight against your foot, and the force of it pulling inward and outward toward your foot will explosively throw you from the tree," Gai said as he pointed at the blasted bark where his foot had been, "But too little will not let you stick. This will help you master the first type of chakra control necessary in taijutsu, known as 'steady flow'."

Naruto nodded before a look of grim determination crossed his face followed by concentration as he tried once more, making it nearly four steps up before the force blew him off, though he was expecting it and landed safely this time. Ten more repetitions occurred with no progress and Gai spoke up.

"To control chakra… you must understand it. Make your clones to assist you and send one with me," Gai said and Naruto obliged before Gai led one of them away.

"So what's up? Are you gonna teach me a cool technique?" Naruto asked, bouncing around hopefully.

"I am going to give you the secret of this matter," Gai said, sitting down cross legged in what he hoped was a 'wise old sensei' pose. He could shutter the blazing lantern of his true youthfulness if this was the way to get through to someone with such a look of determination on their face. He seemed to respond well to things that were a bit clichéd.

"Really? Way cool!" Naruto enthused, plopping down on the ground in front of him.

"I will reveal to you the inner secrets of chakra, known only to those who have studied this," Gai said mysteriously and Naruto's eyes became the size of saucers with drops of moisture in them, something that made Gai rejoice internally at the youthful expression of his new student.

"Chakra comes from the intermingling of two sources of energy within the body. No one truly understands what they are, or why they are there. Only humans and certain other animals have both sources, while many other living things only have one," Gai said, "The first is known as the 'Third Eye' or the Kaimon [Gate of Opening], and is unique to things with at least some semblance of intelligence."

He tapped the top of his head to indicate the rough location of the Gate of Opening, then over his heart, "The other source is known as the Shimon [Death Gate], and exist in all living things, from the mightiest ninja, to the lowliest mushroom," Gai said, "The energy that emerges from the Gate of Opening is known as 'spiritual energy', and the energy that emerges from the Death Gate is known as 'physical energy'."

"Why are they called that?" Naruto asked in wide eyed wonder.

"No one is certain. They both always exist in equal proportions in a person. Spiritual energy can be grown however by meditative practices, by increasing the inner harmony," Gai said with a faint smile, "Physical energy is grown by taxing one's chakra stores to their limits repeatedly. Now because neither energy can grow without the other, even if your inner harmony is great, if you do not draw out your chakra enough to increase your physical energy to match the potential amount of spiritual energy, neither force can grow until you do."

"Then why do I have so much chakra? I don't think I have that much inner harmony," Naruto said with a grimace.

"I must admit, it is likely due to outside causes," Gai admitted, "Your body energies are likely being stressed constantly, and your mind struggles for inner harmony even without your knowing, in order to ensure the wellbeing of us all."

Naruto's eyes widened and Gai gave him a smile of appreciation that instantly made him one of Naruto's favorite people, even if he looked really creepy… and sounded really creepy… and acted really creepy. Eyebrows. Naruto closed his eyes and shuddered briefly.

"However this harmony does not even mean 'inner peace' but merely one's ability to grasp some intangible property and nurture it. It is your 'you-ness' and exists independently of your frame of mind," Gai said while tapping his chin in thought, "Imagine a painting that as time passes its colors become brighter, it becomes more realistic and vibrant, more 'there'. This is why spiritual energy grows the most during youth, when you are becoming more 'you' than you ever were before."

"I get it… I think," Naruto said as his face twisted in concentration, "It's becoming more real, not my body or junk, but me, the part of me that is Naruto, and no matter if I lost all of my memories, would stay Naruto. It's that part that's becoming realer!"

Gai's eyes shot open in surprise, "Umm… yes! That is a remarkable way of thinking about it," Gai said with a bright smile, "It is because of this principal that you must find your inner harmony to control your chakra to its fullest, as the spirit controls the flesh, but the flesh is the vehicle of the spirit."

Naruto laughed happily and rubbed the back of his head, "So umm, what is physical energy then?" he asked and Gai frowned.

"Physical energy is your life force itself," Gai finally said.

"Oh! I get it!" Naruto shouted, "That's why if you run out of chakra you die! It's because your physical energy is gone so your body doesn't work, and your spiritual energy is gone so you're no longer real. Does the whole 'realer' thing mean that when you're low on chakra life doesn't feel as bright like a painting?"

* * *

Yes. In fact, it did feel less vibrant and bright. That was something Naruto was certain of. For the first time in his life he felt tired, not tired in the usual sense that exercise made him, something that went away quickly, or from not having slept. He felt tired in the sense that he felt like one of his orange jackets that had been washed too many times and the color had faded. He was low enough on chakra that for the first time he noticed it, really, really noticed it.

"Naruto you baka [moron]!" Sakura shouted as he approached, "You're even later than Kakashi-sensei."

"Shut the fuck up Sakura," he groaned out before his eyes widened in horror and his hands clamped over his mouth, "Oh I'm so sorry Sakura-chan, I'm just tired and it slipped…"

The sound of Sakura hitting him and then his body hitting a tree was deafening.

"Stupid Naruto… pretending to be all tired because he's late," Sakura growled.

"Actually he really is tired," Kakashi said with a smirk, "Though he's going to pay for being later than I was. I've turned him over to an old... friend... of mine in the mornings."

He caught the tangible spike of jealousy from Sasuke and quickly continued, "His taijutsu skill is so bad that it would be a danger to the entire team if I didn't ask for him to receive remedial lessons," Kakashi said, "My... friend... said he wasn't sure there was much hope, but that he'd try to at least turn him into less of an idiot, even if it killed him. I guess it's out of my hands now. I just hope Gai doesn't really kill him from exhaustion. WAKE UP!"

Naruto shot up in the air with a girlish shriek and Sasuke sniggered. He turned to glare at Kakashi until he saw the evil gleam in his sensei's eye.

"Naruto… start running, and fight for your life, because if you don't, you'll die. This is your punishment, Kakashi-style," Kakashi said with a cackle that was more accurately Anko-style before throwing a shuriken at him.

Naruto unleashed another girlish scream and bolted but Kakashi reappeared in front of him and batted him head over heels. Kakashi was there before he knew it and grabbed Naruto's incoming fist before raising a knee into Naruto's gut so hard it brought tears to his eyes and even Sasuke winced as the air exploded from him as he flew away.

Naruto struggled to his feet and put his hands together to make a few kage bunshin before hesitating, actually thinking for the first time in his life, or at least that's what it felt like considering the headache it gave him. He was fairly certain he'd done it before, he just couldn't remember when. With his taijutsu level more shadow clones wouldn't help against someone like Kakashi, and even if he had better ability, he didn't have enough energy. That was one of the few big things that had stuck with him from his morning's practice, though there was a surprising amount of other information, like paintings getting brighter, and the ominous sounding and way cool 'Death Gate' junk.

"Hesitation will get you killed," Kakashi growled as his fist slammed into Naruto's nose, spraying blood on the ground and Naruto slumped. Kakashi just grabbed his collar and dragged him back over to the group.

Naruto's body hurt worse than it ever had in his life, and he felt faintly betrayed. Kakashi-sensei had never hurt Sasuke or Sakura like that, and it was just because he was late. Kakashi was late all the time! He was doing his best to hold back tears because he'd never hear the end of it from his teammates, but it was hard, especially with how washed out he felt at the moment.

Kakashi just watched him for a few minutes as the blood flow stopped and his bruises seemed to fade before his eyes.

'Amazing… so it heals him as well… or is that his own ability?' Kakashi wondered. He'd never seen his sensei take any damage before so he had no idea whether or not he had healed similarly, and the same applied with Uzumaki Kushina, the biggest and most blatant piece of evidence of his heritage, given she was the Yondaime's [Fourth Lord] only lover, which made Naruto's heritage rather obvious to any but the most blinded of ninja.

"Alright, listen carefully," Kakashi said, "Today we're going to cover more basics. I'm not sure that anyone but Sakura actually has every one of the Academy jutsu down pat, though I think Sasuke might. I'm going to go over each of them and check your ability with them and decide if any of you need… _remedial training_."

He made it sound so ominous that even Sasuke swallowed hard at the words.

"First up is the Kakuremino no Jutsu, an E-Rank genjutsu, and the first taught in the academy. It creates a local effect that renders the user invisible so long as they remain motionless and the enemy is within radius of the distance they can project the technique around them," Kakashi said, "The most basic of concealment techniques. Sakura, you go first."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei!" she enthused and performed the snake and the rat hand seals before blinking out of sight. She remained invisible for several seconds before she moved and the motion broke the genjutsu.

"Perfect," Kakashi said, "Now you Sasuke."

Sasuke gave a smug smirk and disappeared before reappearing.

"Now you Naruto," Kakashi said.

Naruto was sweating bullets, "Umm, Kakashi-sensei… I'm low on chakra," he said nervously.

"This technique is the least chakra intensive technique in existence. It is why it's taught when children first enter the academy at eight, as even they have enough chakra to perform it often enough to practice it to a fine skill," Kakashi said and Naruto swallowed hard, "So let's see it."

Naruto made the snake, then the rat hand seal and stood there motionless as the technique went off.

'Success!' he thought before snickers broke out.

"You know you're still visible, right Naruto?" Kakashi said and Naruto grimaced and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I knew that, I was just messing with you," he said, "Okay, here I go."

He repeated his attempt and this time he didn't get any snickers. He got full blown laughter.

"Oh wow… I knew you were an idiot… but wow. You can't even do the most basic of the academy techniques," Sasuke said, actually wheezing with laughter.

Naruto forced his face to keep from breaking and managed to jerk it up into a smile. He wasn't going to give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing him cry. He could wait until he got home to cry.

"Yeah, well you weren't so hot yourself," Naruto countered.

"Actually, Sasuke's attempt was very good, and the distance he extended it was even farther than Sakura's," Kakashi said and Naruto bit his lip before turning away and shrugging.

"Feh, like it matters," he said, feigning lack of concern.

"I think that's enough of this for the day. Naruto… I want you to go practice this until you manage it," Kakashi said as he tossed him the scroll, "It's some hints on using the jutsu. Sakura, Sasuke, come with me, we're going to work on your taijutsu skills."

Naruto sat there alone with the scroll in his hands as his team walked away. He wanted to yell, scream, rage, anything, but truthfully he didn't feel alive enough to bother. He was being left behind again, like always. It was like the dreams he had every night, over and over. The faces changed but the dream was always of him watching the backs of people as they walked away, leaving him behind.

He punched the ground and was tempted to throw away the scroll, but he knew they'd probably keep leaving him behind until he learned in. With a heavy sigh he unrolled it. At the top was a note from his teacher.

'_Naruto… with this jutsu you could have jumped away and hidden earlier rather than getting thrashed – Kakashi'_

Naruto blinked at the words in surprise as he thought about it. If he could have used it to disappear earlier Kakashi-sensei wouldn't have bloodied his nose like that, at least as long as he stayed hidden, or until Kakashi figured out where he was. He gave a faint smile that his sensei was actually trying to help him and unrolled the scroll the rest of the way to read.

* * *

"Good morning Naruto-san!" Gai called out cheerfully as Naruto reached the training grounds.

"Hello Gai-sensei!" Naruto said, waving back in an attempt to at least try to show a fraction of the enthusiasm. And people called him over-enthusiastic and annoying.

"Are you ready to climb trees some more?" Gai asked and Naruto nodded slightly, "Alright, make your clones, this time you'll work with me. I saw how high you made it at the very end of our last session and I think you might be ready to start."

Naruto nodded and his clones were running off for the trees quickly.

"Alright now, please focus your chakra," Gai said with a grin and Naruto complied, managing to at least hold it somewhat steady.

"Now I want you to stop pushing it outward, but instead push just a tiny, tiny, tiny amount into your legs," he said and Naruto did as he said, making his legs feel really funny and he tried to take a step or two to get rid of the feeling. However the attempt caused his leg to fly up wildly and sent a spike of pain through him as it cramped and he fell over.

"I said tiny," Gai said, "But I think you get the point of this exercise. By adding chakra to your muscles it does the same thing as it does to the tree, it pulls them together, harder than you otherwise could."

"It hurts," Naruto winced as he massaged his hamstring.

"It hurts because the chakra within them is damaging them, much like the micro-tears civilian weight lifters get when they exercise. However, these tears are not because of the contraction itself," Gai said, "Chakra also holds your muscles together while at the same time strengthening the contraction, so they aren't truly tearing. It's more like poisoning."

"Wait, chakra is poisonous?" Naruto asked, that being the only thing he got out of the description.

"Umm, think of it like a fuse and electricity," Gai said, "Do you know how that works?"

Naruto nodded. He'd had to replace more than a few fuses in his apartment before.

"It works fine with a normal amount of electricity, but when too much goes through it, what happens?" Gai asked.

"The fuse melts!" Naruto said, "So when I use too much chakra my muscles melt."

"Close enough," Gai said, "Now when I called your chakra reserves stamina the other day that wasn't exactly true. Yes, they are the limit of your total possible stamina, but true stamina has to do with how much damage your muscles have taken from using chakra."

"So you damage your muscles whenever you use taijutsu?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"No, only when you're forced to push beyond your limits," Gai said, "That's why I likened it to poison. When you take low amounts of poison over and over, and slowly increase the dose, what happens?"

Naruto's face lit up, "Oh! I know this!" he cried, "It's immunities! You reach the point where even really high doses of the poison won't kill you. So you build up immunity to your chakra poison, which melts your muscles like those acidic poisons Iruka-sensei showed us!"

"Very good," Gai said, "Now as long as you're using less than what your immunity can handle without taking any damage, you won't feel any pain from it and can keep going at that level until your chakra runs low. However it's often necessary to increase it beyond that level and accept the pain and damage in order to go beyond your normal limits."

"And that's like normal exercise, because your muscles get damaged and hurt," he said and Gai nodded.

"Eventually the pain becomes too much to push through and your body refuses to accept any more chakra until you've rested long enough for it to heal up," Gai said, "The higher you amplify your body the quicker this occurs."

"Umm, won't stronger muscles mean your bones would break?" Naruto asked curiously in a rare display of incredible insight.

"Yes, but chakra can reinforce that as well, it's also used to reinforce the skin so it doesn't split open from the force of your strike," Gai enthused.

"So chakra can reinforce everything on the body, cool…" he said as he thought about it a moment and decided to try something, "What about… FLARGLE!"

An ear splitting scream broke the air and Gai's eyes went wide with fear as Naruto clutched his eyes.

"Trrr… uff!" he screamed, over and over again as he thrashed on the ground. Gai didn't wait a second longer and scooped him up before moving toward the hospital at the highest speeds possible. Perhaps they could still save his sight if he got there in time.

"EYES, CHAKRA ENHANCEMENT! INJURY!" Gai shouted as his body smashed through the sliding door without slowing.

Half a dozen medics burst into the room at the pronouncement, but their pace slowed when they realized who was in his arms.

"What are you doing?!" Gai shouted, "Hurry!"

"We've got to make a thorough check before we can do anything," one of the healers said, "So we know what's really wrong. It might not be what you think, but rather something…_ else_."

Gai snarled at the woman and she leaped back in fright. Naruto's voice had finally cracked and the screaming became noiseless and his arms came down, due to the pain passing the point where he could coordinate his movements any more. What Gai saw horrified him.

Naruto's eyes had power bleached entirely white, but were surrounded by a visible aura of blue chakra. However dancing through that blue were streaks of angry red that seemed to be corroding the eyes themselves, causing the lens to bubble and hiss.

"I'm going to get Hokage-sama!" Gai shouted.

"There's no need for that. We've figured out that it is in fact due to chakra enhancement," the woman said with a far too happy smile as she and three others took up positions around him and performed hand seals before placing them on the ground. A chain of seals spread from each of their positions to his eyes and the power cut off instantly, leaving Naruto gasping for breath.

The woman took a flashlight and shone it in his eyes a few times before trying unsuccessfully to hide her smirk from Gai, "His pupils aren't responding," she said, "And his retinas have burned away. He's completely and irreversibly blind. Such a shame."

* * *

[AN: Sorry about the lack of linebreaks in the first posting. This is the first time I've used this site to post my hobby fiction, so please bear with the occasional formatting errors.]


	2. Chapter 2

"What… are… you… talking about?" Naruto gasped out, "I can see just… fine. Except for the squiggly lines and… dots."

The woman went pale as a sheet, "One in three and a half million," she whispered and the other three medics looked vaguely betrayed.

"Yo lady… why is your heart on the outside? It's racing too, are you okay?" Naruto asked as he sat up and looked around, "Whoa, everything's funky."

"Naruto… Naruto, look at me," Gai ordered and Naruto's head turned, "What do you see when you look at me?"

Naruto frowned, "It's like the time I saw things from indigestion, right before Jiji [the old man] removed me from the orphanage… it's like I can see inside and outside of you all at once," he said with a slightly green expression, "And the weird tube thingies with the dots."

"Watch carefully Naruto and tell me what you see," Gai said as he slowly made a series of hand seals and switched places with a chair.

"Whoa, it's like your hands just spit out these weird strings, and then they connected together into a weird design," Naruto said in awe, "What were those weird squiggly line shape thingies that look like the junk on Jibaku Fuda [Exploding Tokens]? They appeared when you stopped the hand seals and just kind of floated there before the next one joined it and connected to it."

"You can see chakra, Naruto," Gai said in amazement, "You've just won the lottery."

"Lottery? Wha?" Naruto said and the woman began cursing up a storm.

"And in the name of the Sandaime [Third Lord] Hokage, for violation of the healers oath with malicious intention to permanently maim an active duty shinobi," Gai said in a dark voice and Naruto was amazed as he saw a faint sort of trail of chakra left behind, before his eyes widened in horror and the sound of four loud 'CRACK' noises caught up with his mind.

The four healers in question slumped to the ground with the back of their heads touching their spines, their necks broken like toothpicks.

"You… killed them," Naruto whispered, more than a little frightened.

"They just committed treason," Gai said and gave him a sad smile, "It is sometimes hard to perform the duties of a shinobi."

"So what happened? What's with the lottery and how much did I win?" Naruto asked as he tried to shake away the images of the dead healers and calm his stomach.

"Why don't you go in that room there and rest for a bit, I can imagine the after effects of all that pain aren't pleasant," Gai said with a gentle smile, "I need to go find someone who can explain to you what happened."

Naruto just nodded before wincing. His head was throbbing worse than the time he'd tripped and fallen head first down all three flights of stairs at the academy. He stumbled off into the room that the healers moved aside to let him enter and laid gingerly on the bed, closing his eyes and disappointed to find that it didn't do much more than shift the center of his focus to behind his eyelids. He could still see the rest of the room, in fact he could see the entire city and a little bit beyond, which was really disorienting.

He was also starting to feel a bit faded and his eyes widened as he remembered his clones and they dispelled, only making his headache that much worse. He groaned softly as the faded feeling increased before he yawned tiredly and fell asleep.

* * *

"Sarutobi-sama, why have I been called here?" a tall and aristocratic white eyed man with straight black hair asked.

"Maito Gai claims that something not at all short of miraculous has occurred," Sarutobi said as he puffed on his pipe.

"Naruto-san… before I could warn him, during one of our taijutsu lessons he attempted to enhance his eyes with chakra," Gai said excitably, "You won't believe what happened."

"Oh dear," Hiashi groaned and palmed his forehead, rubbing his temples in slow circles, "This is not what I needed today."

Sarutobi gave a quiet chuckle, "Your youngest is becoming quite the spitfire," he said with more than a little amusement in his voice, "I hear that she rather soundly laid out my grandson this morning, with a right hook, no less. I fear what her skill with the Jyuuken could have done."

Hiashi just rubbed his temples harder.

"One in three and a half million people," Hiashi grumbled, "The odds of lightning striking twice. And it has to be him. The branch house will have a conniption."

"He isn't a Hyuuga and we're not sure this _is_ the Omowazu Byakugan [Spontaneous White Eye]," Sarutobi said, "That is what you are here to determine. You, if anyone other than Tsunade, know enough about genetic chakra imprinting to tell, and have keen enough eyes to check."

Hiashi just groaned and stood before nodding his acquiescence.

* * *

Hiashi stared at the boy with bulging eye veins on his temples as he peered at him, before turning to Sarutobi without deactivating them, in order to observe his responses.

"Permission to discuss speculative and perhaps vitally secret subject matter, Hokage-sama," Hiashi asked formally.

Sarutobi's eyebrows went up but he held a hand up to both Kakashi and Gai who were about to leave the room and performed a fuuinjutsu that sealed off the room to any and all senses of those outside. Technically the room didn't even truly exist within reality anymore, just sort of adjacent.

"Speak freely," Sarutobi said.

"Why do you continue to refuse to announce his heritage?" Hiashi asked as he gestured to the unconscious boy.

"I don't know what you're talking about Hiashi, he's an orphan," Sarutobi said.

"It's going to become obvious quickly, the changes the seal is working are beginning to manifest," Hiashi said as he peered at the child, "There is a chakra-genetic structure bonded to his cells, regenerating them at an astounding pace, he'll stop aging completely at seventeen unless I miss my mark. His death and life gates are both altered by a similar chakra-genetic structure. There are other such structures all throughout his spine, brain, and nerves, enhancing sensory-motor sensitivity and relay speed. And unless I'm missing my mark there's another beginning to form that is eerily reminiscent of a more refined version of a certain genetic structure of Jiraiya of the Sannin that we are both familiar with, though it's only partially developed."

Sarutobi's expression was stone faced.

"All of them are linked to one of the Hakke [Eight Trigrams] in the central seal. It is entirely original work, so I have no clue what the remaining four Hakke will do once activated, or when they will," Hiashi said, "This boy is an experiment in Kekkei Genkai creation. The Yondaime would never entrust something like this to a random orphan, especially not one so eerily physically reminiscent of him."

Sarutobi's voice cut through the thoughts of those present, "Anything you have heard or will here while here is considered an unranked secret. I will _personally_ attend to you if I even have the slightest suspicion that any soul other than you knows of it, and it will be long, painful, and whispered about fearfully in the deepest and darkest corners of hell for eternities to come," Sarutobi said in a voice that chilled them all to the bone.

"And no Hiashi, I did not know it was the seal doing so," Sarutobi said as the marrow freezing feeling disappeared like fog in direct sunlight, "I assumed it was simply the presence of the Kyuubi [Ninetails]. You have confirmed the ability to survive channeling Senjutsu [Sage Arts] chakra?"

"Not yet, but it is developing," he said firmly, "I believe it is somehow… actually consuming the energy of the Kyuubi to enact the changes, pushing it toward the abyss of chakra-death."

Kakashi peered at the currently visible seal, as did the Sandaime, before nodding.

"And the eyes?" Sarutobi asked curiously.

"Also linked to the seal, but not to any of the Hakke," Hiashi said with a curious expression, "It's as though the link is more primitive, like the energy was forcibly plugged into it and now it's being drawn out, just as with the other Hakke to complete the development directly. I don't think it will interfere with the development of the other traits, as even the energy draw the seal indicates they will likely have will be insufficient to completely destroy it, merely bring it down to roughly the energy level of a dozen jounin. I have no idea why it's still drawing it in, nor how much it will drain, but at its current rate the rest of the seal should imprint itself before its finished reinforcing itself with that last portion."

"So is it the Omowazu Byakugan?" Sarutobi asked curiously.

"Originally, yes, and I'd like to go on record as saying that this boy has an absurd level of sheer luck, to be the third person to achieve this is remarkably lucky," Hiashi said, "And without the taint of the addition to it _they_ received. The energy from the seal reinforcing it is being purified by the secondary pair Shizou Fuuin [Elephant Seals]. I'd assume the additional set was placed as a backup for any unexpected activation of a Hakke, though it serves the same purpose in this case. So long as none of the other Hakke activate unexpectedly there should be no problem, and if they do… well the Shizou Fuuin isn't nearly as unique as the Hakke Fuuin no Shiki [Eight Trigrams Time of Death Seal], so if absolutely necessary for seal integrity we could add another."

"Can you see any way in which it is different?" Kakashi asked.

"With him unconscious, no, but from Gai's description…he can see chakra after it has emerged and is no longer contained within the coils, as well as after it has collapsed into it's true Fuuin form," Hiashi said, "And that is beyond the capabilities of anything but _their_ doujutsu."

He spat on the clean hospital floor, a gesture so entirely at odds with the stoic Hyuuga, but completely understandable, considering the relationship between the two clans.

"So he could… feasibly… learn like the Sharingan?" Kakashi offered and Hiashi shook his head.

"The photo imagery capture effect of the Sharingan is what enables its monkey like mimicry. However if performed incredibly slowly, for the sole purpose of teaching, he would be able to see the seal diagrams once formed and theoretically mimic any such technique, assuming he had the requisite control," Hiashi said with a shrug.

"Huh… I wonder what the old farts… urk… sorry, the council will say about this," Kakashi said, looking embarrassed under Sarutobi's gaze.

"They will say nothing, as Naruto has just become an extremely valuable resource to this village," Sarutobi said, "More so than they already have refused to admit."

"He's beginning to awaken," Hiashi said, "It seems as though he fell asleep to conserve chakra. He doesn't seem to be showing the signs of nearing the limit, but it was likely just a standard physiological response to shock and sudden chakra leakage."

"Chakra whatage?" Naruto mumbled as his eyes opened and he looked around.

Memory rushed back into him as he saw the world through strange eyes once more. However his vision couldn't seem to see outside of the room, even through the window that the sun was shining in via. It was just like there was nothing there. He winced as Kakashi swatted him on the head.

"No more using chakra on anything to do with the senses!" Kakashi said, scolding him as though he were a dog.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked in confusion, "Why did my chakra suddenly drain away so quickly?"

"It wasn't that much of a drain, you just fell asleep because you've never experienced steady drain of that level before and you instinctively reacted to stop the flow," Hiashi said, "And it seems you've awakened a variation of my clan's bloodline."

"Wait, I've got a bloodline?" Naruto said in a shocked voice, "Are you my daddy?"

The silence in the room was deafening. It was surprisingly the Hokage himself who cracked and began laughing, then wheezing, then coughing and trying to breathe before righting himself.

"That wasn't funny Sandaime-sama," Hiashi said, "And no, I am not your father. You're just absurdly lucky."

"So umm… why isn't it draining fast now?" Naruto asked with a humiliated expression.

Hiashi coughed into his hand, "Sarutobi-sama has enclosed this room in a way that prevents such vision from seeing beyond its limits. It was likely draining so quickly because you had extended its range unduly far," Hiashi said sternly, "The Byakugan is hardly chakra intensive, especially compared to other doujutsu, so long as it's range is restricted. You however are incapable of deactivating it for some reason."

Naruto frowned, "But if it's a bloodline, and it's a constant drain and can't be deactivated… I can't ever have a family or it would kill them," he said as a stricken expression crossed his face.

"No, the child would simply naturally learn to restrict its range of focus as it grew, and if the drain ever became excessive or reached a dangerous level they would simply fall asleep," Hiashi said, "In my clan, such throwbacks happen occasionally and cope with it well, my deceased brother was one of them."

Relief crossed Naruto's face in a way that made the men present uncomfortable. It was a bit unnerving to see a fourteen year old so concerned about his possible future family.

"So umm, how do I learn to do that restricting thingy?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It follows the subconscious," Hiashi said, "It's range is limited by how far you want to see, though extended distances make it incredibly hard to handle it all mentally and most of the information is simply lost. Despite this the drain is often far too exorbitant to extend beyond a mile for more than a minute or so."

"So the forests outside the village…." Naruto asked.

"Would drain a genin into unconsciousness in seconds," Hiashi said, "For someone with C or B-rank reserves, maybe a minute, and with A-rank reserves, possibly a half hour, assuming no other chakra is expended."

"Oh, so I've just got to not _want_ to see that far," Naruto said and his range of vision instantly decreased to a few feet.

"That's not exactly…"

"Okay, got it… I can only see about as far away as the end of my fingertips," he said while extending his arms, then pushing his range of vision outward, "Alright, now I can see you all, but not the door. I think I've got the hang of this. Oh… Eww… BLARGH!"

Naruto turned his head and vomited all over the floor, "Oh god… it won't go away. HIDE YOUR SHAME!"

Sarutobi looked queasy, Kakashi looked panicked and Gai was standing there with his legs clenched together, a hand over his groin, and for some reason one across his chest, despite lacking anything to cover. Hiashi was just smirking. This reaction wasn't exactly uncommon when a child first awakened their Byakugan.

"Get used to it kid," Hiashi said, "Unless you simply refuse to allow your mind to focus anywhere near someone you'll see everything, inside and out. You just learn to ignore it."

"You sick freak!" Gai squeaked at Hiashi and clenched his butt cheeks, remembering the hundreds of missions they'd been on together in which the man had been looking at him with the Byakugan active.

Hiashi just groaned and rubbed his temples, "I knew this was one of those days," he said with a frown before switching over to Gai-speak, "Think of it as a youthful child walking in and seeing their parents doing something they shouldn't."

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry you had to see that Hiashi-san," Gai said, no longer making the futile gesture of covering himself.

"You're forgiven Gai… But for the love of god, wear underwear under that monstrosity from now on. It makes it easier to ignore," Hiashi said with a shudder and Gai turned bright red.

Kakashi cleared his throat, "So… Sandaime-sama… how should I explain this to my team?" he asked curiously.

"Tell them that Naruto had an accident that awakened an extremely rare random mutation causing a bloodline trait similar to that of the Byakugan," Sarutobi said, "Just tell them the truth."

Sarutobi's gaze allowed him to leave the rest of the message unspoken and Kakashi nodded.

"Do you feel capable of meeting with the team today?" Kakashi asked him and Naruto nodded, "Alright then. Thank you very much Gai. I know you did your absolute best to get him here in time. He'll be by tomorrow for your practice."

Gai looked slightly ashamed but nodded.

Sarutobi deactivated the fuuinjutsu array separating the room and made a motion to Hiashi as Kakashi led Naruto out of the room. Naruto's cheeks were blushing furiously, and he felt funny. The female dominated staff of the hospital was on average, very pretty, something that aided their bedside manner. However… this was the first time Naruto had seen any girl… exposed. Even the swimsuit magazines he'd used for his Iroke no Jutsu [Art of Sex Appeal] didn't show the entrancingly puffy aureole and tiny buds of their nipples, or the cleft between a girl's legs… or that the nurse bent over at the front desk didn't have any hair down there, unlike all but two of other seven women in the lobby.

"Naruto," Kakashi said as he led his student out the recently replaced front doors and handed him a tissue, "You have been given a gift by the gods themselves. Cherish it."

Naruto stared at the tissue for a moment before experimentally dabbing his nose and coming away with a small amount of blood, much to his surprise and horror.

"Have I become a pervert Kakashi-sensei?" he asked nervously.

"You're only a pervert if they can prove you were looking," Kakashi said, "It's just like how a shinobi is only stealing enemy documents if they get caught."

Naruto nodded and accepted the excuse, if only to prop up his quickly flagging morals on the subject of perverts. He wasn't a pervert. He could look without getting caught; hence he was not a pervert. He was just confused as to why he had to have his hand in his pocket to hold his thing down so it didn't stick up embarrassingly. It had never done that to him before, and he felt faintly betrayed.

He was coping a little better by the time they reached the bridge. At least until he saw Sakura…. Mmm, Sakura… her breasts were small but she had full and light pink aureole and her nipples were so… nice. And between her legs there was a faint fuzz of pink and…

The world went black.

* * *

"Naruto, stay with me," Kakashi said, slightly slapping his face as he came to.

"What's wrong with him Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"He had a training accident that caused a dormant kekkei genkai to activate, a variation of the Byakugan. You'll have to excuse him, but the strain has made him a little light headed and put some strain on his capillaries, hence the blood loss," Kakashi deftly explained.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said dreamily.

"Shut up Naruto-baka," Sakura snapped out.

"Alright, now Naruto… if you would, have you learned the technique from yesterday yet?" Kakashi said and Naruto snorted.

"I already knew it, I just didn't feel like using it," he said.

"Then please, perform it," Kakashi said and Naruto nodded.

He quickly formed the snake seal, before staring in fascination as the strings of chakra curved in different directions as he performed the technique; however the distraction caused him to lose concentration.

"Sorry, drifted off for a moment there," he said before repeating the hand seal. This time the strings bent and connected together before collapsing into the weird seal thing floating in the air, but not actually there, just sort of existing like a visible idea... or whatever... as he made the second seal and it linked to the first. He froze motionless.

"Very good," Kakashi said with a grin and Naruto moved, breaking the technique.

"Alright. On to the next technique. It's the Nawanuke no Jutsu [Art of Rope Shedding]," Kakashi said, "I'll demonstrate it for you."

He pulled out a piece of wire and tied his hands together, cinching it with his teeth. Once it was completely secure his hands very slowly formed the hand seals. Naruto watched very carefully as the lines of chakra coming out of his hands bent slightly to connect up together before collapsing into the weird floating seals, then other seals connected to it before the technique activated. The wire seemed to simply slide through his wrists and fall to the ground, as though they weren't there.

"Let's see you three do it," Kakashi said, pulling out more wire with a gleam in his eye and binding their hands. Sakura of course performed it immediately, but it warmed Naruto's heart to see that Sasuke took a little longer than she did to get it, and had a look of concentration on his face. Of course he already knew Sasuke could use the technique. It's how he'd escaped when he'd tied him up their first day as genin. When Naruto's turn came he was certain he would get it. It was just a matter of bending the lines into the right shape.

He formed the hand seals, concentrating on molding the chakra properly, but the strings didn't seem to want to listen to him and wouldn't force them connect up properly. The harder he tried to drag them into the right place the more they refused to go the direction he wanted and the jutsu failed utterly.

Kakashi looked vaguely disappointed, "Well, I see you're still struggling with the basics Naruto," he said with a sigh.

"I don't see why this junk is important anyway," Naruto groused.

"Do you have any clue why these techniques are taught in the academy?" Kakashi asked him.

"Because they're weak enough to be safe in the hands of academy students," Naruto answered confidently.

"So wrong it hurts," Kakashi said, "It's because we expect ninja leaving the academy to be able to perform all of the most often used skills. Even the greatest of ninja use the basic six academy techniques more often than any other set of jutsu. They are all a ninja truly needs to be extremely dangerous if used properly."

His eye turned up into a grinning pose, "Each of these basic jutsu can be taken to levels far beyond their original and most simple uses at the highest levels of mastery," Kakashi said, "And the implications of that high of a level of Mastery are terrifying. I myself am a full master of the Kawarimi no Jutsu [Art of Replacement]. It is my best skill. I've reached the point where my ability with it is so great I can perform it without hand seals, nearly instantly."

The genin's jaws dropped as Kakashi popped around the field, leaving little plumes of floating grass in the air in his wake.

"This is the power of true mastery of the core techniques," he said with a laugh.

Sasuke just grunted at that. They didn't seem particularly useful, as most of the academy techniques were about either escaping or hiding from an enemy. They wouldn't do him any good against Itachi.

"It seems like Naruto has more catching up to do," Kakashi said with a smirk, "I'll be back at midnight to see if you got free."

Naruto groaned as they walked off, leaving him behind, _again._ And this time Kakashi-sensei didn't even leave him with a scroll containing tips. He growled and began trying the hand seals again, desperately attempting to force the lines into the right shape.

* * *

"Oh thank god," Naruto muttered as he walked into his usual morning training grounds of doom. At least today Gai was wearing underwear, and Hiashi-san had been right, it did make it easier to ignore.

"Naruto!" Gai shouted, "I think it is time you met my youthful student Rock Lee!"

Naruto gaped at the nearly identical miniature clone of Maito Gai before reeling back and hissing, "For the sake of all that is holy, cover your goddamn shame!"

"Lee-kun… are you wearing underwear like I asked?" Gai asked curiously.

Lee looked embarrassed, "They leave lines in my spandex and are uncomfortably distracting Gai-sensei!" he protested.

"Then I will take you shopping after our practice and I will show you the wonders of the thong," Gai said and Naruto began screaming and covering his ears.

"Lee-kun, I would like you help Naruto-san work on coordinating his movements to the enhanced strength, as well as helping him reach a level of control over the level of internal control," Gai said and turned to Naruto, "Continue working on tree climbing as well while you work with Lee."

"Hai Gai-sensei," Naruto said and formed a set of shadow clones to continue his improvement. When he turned back around he saw Lee looking a little hurt.

"Gai-sensei?" Lee asked softly, "Can he really train to be stronger just by making clones to do the work for him?"

"It is more than that my precious pupil," Gai said, "The memories of the clones rejoin Naruto-san when they disperse, and each one is as much him as the original. At the end of the day it feels and he will remember every moment of training. It is though he worked harder in a shorter amount of time. It is a truly youthful training technique, considering how hard he winds up working in our short sessions."

Lee's eyes became the size of 10 ryo coins and tears welled up in them, "Such hard work! I only wish I could use such a technique. I would train so hard Gai-sensei!"

"I'll teach you, okay Lee?" Naruto said enthusiastically, "As long as you promise not to teach that jerk Sasuke!"

He was confused when both Gai and Lee suddenly looked very sad.

"I cannot use ninjutsu [Ninja arts] or genjutsu [Illusionary arts]," Lee said, "They don't work for me. That is why I train my taijutsu so hard, so I can prove that I can be a splendid ninja even without such techniques."

Naruto frowned, "But why can't you use them? I mean, you have the coils and dots, and you can push it into your muscles just fine," he said in confusion.

"Lee cannot feel his own chakra," Gai said, "He can perform taijutsu because he can alter his control over it using the feeling it causes in his muscles, but outside of the body he has no way to sense it in any way, and thus cannot mold it."

"Then why don't you have someone tell him how to mold it?" Naruto said in confusion, "Like in those team building exercises in the academy where we'd get blindfolded and the others tell you which direction to move?"

Gai frowned, "But I cannot see chakra like you can," he said gently.

"Oh," Naruto said, having already forgotten that he now saw things completely differently than others. It had already become just as much a part of him as his hands and feet, and just as instinctual.

"Well then, can't one of those white eye people tell him?" Naruto offered.

Gai shook his head, "No Hyuuga would be willing to do so. They do not hold a high opinion of Lee because of his difficulty," Gai said as he thought sadly about his student Neji.

"Wait, I can see it too! I can just kind of tell Lee how to move it and he can figure it out that way," Naruto said and Lee's eyes widened in hope.

"Yes, but he still will not be able to feel it to memorize the way it must form," Gai said and Lee's face fell again.

Naruto scowled in frustration, "Then… we change the shape of the hand seals so it makes the same sign without him having to bend it. If his finger is curved, it should be the same as if it curved outside of his body. The chakra will connect the same," he said as his face lit up.

"Gai-sensei? Is this true?" Lee asked and Gai's jaw dropped.

"We must attempt this," Gai said, "I am unsure if it will work, but we cannot let this pass unattempted."

Naruto nodded and paid careful attention to the way his chakra took shape and the seal it made as he produced and dispelled clones one at a time, focusing on the shapes things took. Lee and Gai simply sat and watched him intently, unwilling to interrupt his seeming concentration. Finally Naruto looked up with a broad grin.

"I've got it!" he said, "I had to make it into three parts to get it to work instead of just the one that I use. They're even weirder than the crossed hand shape I usually make."

Lee's eyes shone as Naruto put his hands together in a hand seal that looked utterly dissimilar to any hand seal Gai had seen before. It didn't even look like a hand seal as there was no sort of symmetry or rhyme to it. Some of his fingers were twisted around and crossed and others were touching points on his wrist or palms as he made the hand seals, and to Gai's shock a trio of kage bunshin appeared and they started cheering at their success.

"Oww... those make my hands hurt and cramp up," Naruto said as he shook his hands and wrists out before going over to Lee and helping his move his fingers into the convoluted positions, "Now you just have to sort of push yourself into the jutsu when you use it."

After nearly twenty minutes of work three clouds of smoke appeared around Lee, perfect copies of himself and tears welled up in their eyes as they dropped to their knees, covering their faces and weeping. Gai rushed to his side and knelt beside him, clutching him to him as he rubbed his hair.

"I did it Gai-sensei… I used ninjutsu!" Lee cried out through teary eyes before looking up at Naruto, "Naruto-san! I will be your friend forever, help you to become a genius of hard work like myself and fight alongside you as best as I can. I swear it!"

Naruto looked sheepish and smiled at Lee, unsure of how to respond to that.

"Naruto-san," Gai said soberly, "You have given my precious pupil a gift that nothing else could rival. I give you my solemn vow to teach you not just the taijutsu you required to reach the proper level of a genin, but any knowledge I have, is yours to learn."

Naruto was dumbstruck at the offer before his face crinkled up and he joined Lee in sobbing and hugging Gai, no matter how uncomfortable it made him. No one had ever offered him something like that, and it made him feel… like someone truly wanted him to succeed.

"Lee, I will handle Naruto's training for the rest of the day. Go practice your ninjutsu technique until you have mastered it. I am sure that Neji will be most surprised by your youth when you practice today," Gai said with a tiny smile. Even Neji could not possibly face four of Lee at once. Lee ran off to practice further while cheering wildly.

"Alright Naruto-san, let us begin by teaching you to walk," Gai said with a grin.

* * *

"This is so exhausting," Naruto groaned as he shambled to their meeting spot, only to find that Kakashi had arrived on time again.

"You're late Naruto," Kakashi said with an evil gleam in his eyes before blurring forward with a kick. Naruto channeled chakra to his legs and jumped for the tree line. A slight pain shot through his legs as he stuck to the tree branch and disappeared into the trees before using the Kakuremino no Jutsu to disappear until Kakashi-sensei hopefully cooled off.

"Sneaky," Kakashi called out as he stalked into the trees before throwing a spray of kunai in all directions, "But not sneaky enough."

Naruto was confused, as all of them had missed him but then he heard a slight sizzle from one of the kunai buried into the tree trunk near him and his eyes widened as he saw the paper tag wrapped around it moments before it exploded, throwing him from the tree with a scream, even though it wasn't enough to really hurt him.

Kakashi's kick smashing into his head was. It made him wince and his head felt like it had split open as he woozily stumbled to his feet before being driven back down again.

"Feh, you're not aware enough to bother with," Kakashi said as he turned and walked away, leaving Naruto with the peace to actually cry, which only made the pain in his head worse. At least Sasuke and Sakura couldn't see him. When his head finally subsided enough that extending his vision more than inches out didn't give him a headache he stumbled back toward the clearing where Sasuke and Sakura were sitting with paper, ink and brushes in front of them and smirking at him.

"Sit down Naruto," Kakashi said, "We're going to test your ability to use the fuuinjutsu taught in the academy, the Jibaku Fuda no Fuujin [Sealing Art: Exploding Token]."

Kakashi grabbed a brush and in rapid strokes dashed out a flawless exploding seal on the tiny strip of paper he had for himself, rather than the larger papers he'd set before them. He blotted it and waved it to dry it before wrapping it around a kunai and throwing it. Once it was embedded in a tree he made a hand seal and it detonated.

"As you should all know there are three ways to create fuuinjutsu, by drawing a diagram and channeling chakra into it, by drawing a partial seal diagram and using a hand seal, like the Jibaku Fuda requires to complete the diagram, or by the use of hand seals alone to form the seal," Kakashi said, "Now show me your ability with this."

Naruto swallowed hard, trying to squelch the feelings of inadequacy these sessions always gave him. He knew his absolutely sucked at making Jibaku Fuda. His calligraphy and drawing abilities were absolutely horrible. The day predictably followed the same pattern as the previous day, but before they left him behind Kakashi whispered something in passing.

"Actually drawing the seals requires no chakra… you can use a much larger number of clones to practice it," he said, trying to keep a smile at the progress Naruto was making in leaps and bounds from his face before tossing a scroll with the seal drawn on it in large detail to Naruto.

"I don't get it," Naruto grumbled as they were out of sight, "He doesn't punish them like he does me… and they're always making me feel stupid and leaving me behind. Then why does Kakashi-sensei always try to leave me hints on how to learn a technique?"

Naruto scowled as he tried to puzzle it out before giving up when all it did was make his headache worse.

"Anyway… he'll probably do another academy technique tomorrow… what was the one we learned after the Jibaku Fuda?" he mumbled before his face lit up, "Henge no Jutsu!"

He grinned wildly. That was one technique he could actually perform right. That just left the Kawarimi no Jutsu [Art of Replacement] and the Bunshin no Jutsu [Clone Art] and the stupid Genbunshin [Illusion Clones] it made. That was one technique he doubted he could ever figure out and had given up on long ago. He resolved to work on the Kawarimi no Jutsu tonight while his clones practiced the Jibaku Fuda. He refused to be left behind the next day.

* * *

"I don't feel like it Lee, you're not good enough to be a challenge," Neji said with a snort as he began to move away to work on his Jyuuken.

"I have learned a new technique that will surely help me show off my blazing youth and finally defeat you my rival!" Lee said firmly and Neji groaned.

"He's not going to stop until you've drubbed him senseless again," Tenten commented from where she was throwing shuriken at a far distant target.

"Fine, let's be quick about this," Neji said dropping into a taijutsu stance and Lee smiled broadly.

"Prepare, my rival," Lee cried out and Neji quirked his eyebrow as Lee put his hands into the strangest positions ever before crying out, "TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Three clones appeared flanking Lee and Neji froze in his tracks. Tenten dropped the shuriken she was about to throw.

"Let's go!" Lee cried out as all four copies of himself closed on Neji, moving at full speed, and immediately forcing Neji on the defensive.

"Impossible!" Neji grunted as he rolled to his feet and licked his split lip, "This must be a dream. They're all identical… which is the right one? Grr… Hakkeshou Rokujuyon [Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms]! Two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty two, sixty four palms strike!"

As he cried out his strikes he moved with blinding speed, his fingers jabbing all over Lee's body before he came to a stop, panting and his eyes widened in horror as Lee went up in smoke.

"Impossible," he stammered, "I felt it… it was real!"

His only answer was Lee's axe kick to the back of his head, which he barely managed to dodge… right into a roundhouse that cut off conscious thought.

Lee came to rest breathing heavily and his clones disappeared. He stared at Neji lying on the ground unconscious. His face was filled with as much shock as Tenten's face, which was gaping dumbly at the strongest genin she'd ever met lying unconscious on the ground in front of the worst student of their graduating class.

"I won?" Lee asked in confusion and Gai's clapping filled the air as he appeared.

"You did it Lee. But you will have to continue improving! A genius like Neji will overcome this if you do not seize the advantage and train yourself until you can train no more!" Gai cried out.

"Lee… beat… Neji?" Tenten asked while pinching her cheek, "Lee used ninjutsu?! GAI-SENSEI! How can Lee use ninjutsu?!"

"A student of my eternal rival, who is much like Lee, the last of his class but a genius of hard work designed special hand seals that allow Lee to perform this jutsu," Gai said while beaming with pride as Neji groaned and slowly came to.

"So that's what those weird gestures were? They didn't look anything like hand seals!" Tenten said in shock.

"I… what happened?" Neji asked as he sat up and looked up at Lee, causing memory to rush back in to his splitting headache, "I… lost… to Lee…"

He growled and struggled to his feet before stumbling off, desperate for a place to think about what had happened. Gai held up a hand to forestall Lee and Tenten from following him.

"Give him time to think about what has happened. I promise you he will return, and be even more determined to avenge his loss," Gai said with a grin at his students.

Tenten was a bit concerned about that but Lee gave a joyous 'YATTA!'

* * *

Naruto was still sleepy when he stumbled to their morning training grounds. He was in a relatively good mood, considering that for the past two days he hadn't been left behind, and had even managed to beat Sakura in taijutsu… once. The look on Sasuke's face the first day after the failed attempt at creating Jibaku Fuda would stay in his memories forever. He had picked up the brush and dipped it into the ink before dashing out a Jibaku Fuda diagram just as quickly as Kakashi-sensei had, if quite a bit larger. He'd spent the entire evening having over a hundred clones practicing it. He'd also learned the very important lesson of releasing clones one at a time after training rather than all at once.

"Gai-sensei!" Naruto called out as he arrived.

"Naruto!" Gai called back as he suddenly appeared with outstretched arms before Naruto leapt back in terror to avoid the ensuing horribly creepy scenario he'd seen occur with Lee several times, and the most terrifying genjutsu he'd ever seen that accompanied it. What was even more disturbing was that neither of them used any chakra to create it… it simply manifested into being independently.

"Today is time for your first assessment, are you prepared Naruto?" Gai asked with a smile.

Naruto had promised him to practice his coordination with the basic forms as much as possible at home. He had achieved enough skill with tree climbing after three days to no longer fall from the tree unless he became heavily distracted, and Lee had begun teaching him the most basic forms of the Konoha Senpuu Ryuu [Leaf Whirlwind Style] which was the basic academy taijutsu style, and a very firm base upon which to build greater expertise.

While Naruto's clones were practicing the forms he was being taught by Gai. Gai covered the important concepts behind taijutsu other than the forms themselves, such as remaining relaxed until the moment of impact, and not having his muscles resisting themselves as he struck. He'd also taught him about letting everything but the fight fade away when in combat, but he wasn't too good at that yet.

"Hai, Gai-sensei," Naruto said as he fell into a taijutsu stance and faced off against Gai before moving forward with a tight and controlled snap kick that was entirely at odds with his wild flailing at the beginning of the week.

As Gai moved around him, actually blocking one or two of the blows rather than just dodging them, he analyzed Naruto's performance. Occasionally he'd wince, showing that he still hadn't gotten a very strong grasp on the body enhancement, but it was at least enough to show significant improvement. His body's limit to the chakra was also quite low, just above the limits of a final year academy student, which was actually rather surprising considering until this week he'd never performed proper taijutsu. Gai could only attribute it to the healing factor of his cells, in that they could heal fast enough to allow him to work at a slightly artificially increased level of chakra over what their limit would normally be before beginning to break down faster than they could recover.

His form was also jerky, incredibly easy to read, and no where near polished. Some of his kicks were loose and it opened up many opportunities for him to slip clean past his guard and lightly tap him to remind him. It was reassuring to see him quickly tighten up each time that happened; though it loosened the longer he went as his concentration faded. It just wasn't near instinctual yet.

It was still astounding though. Naruto had made more progress in the first week than Lee had made in their first month together. His enhanced sensory-motor abilities imprinting the movements far more quickly than Gai would estimate any other human could, and his experience to go with it only accelerated the growth further. Of course Lee was already skilled in taijutsu when Gai had taken him as a student, which left Naruto quite a distance behind where Lee had been when he graduated from the Academy.

It was still astounding to see. He was quickly realizing it was a bit of a misnomer to call Naruto a genius of hard work alone. He was most definitely a genius in the true sort, at least with physical skills and his fledgling multiple kekkei genkai, something he doubted any other person could boast of. His determination and hard work made him both sorts of genius, both of natural talent, and of hard work, and he was willing to bet that in six months he could bring him up to the level of an experienced genin in taijutsu, even if his bodily limitations would lag a bit behind due to disuse.

Lee had begun accelerating in skill as well. He didn't have enough chakra to get nearly the double paced gain each day that Naruto could have if Gai had permission to work him to the very edge of exhaustion, but his training speed had improved by at least 40%, and he was beginning to catch up with Neji in ability alone, even though Neji was beginning to cope with fighting kage bunshin as well as the original. It would be a long while before Naruto could catch up with Lee, but given his constantly increasing chakra reserves he did not doubt that he would someday reach that level and surpass it.

The trick was keeping his interest and keeping him from becoming discouraged. He'd been a bit flighty at first, but it seemed as though Kakashi's regular beatings were giving him a determination he'd lacked before. Kakashi had brought him into his little discussions with Iruka. He understood the necessity of what Kakashi was doing, but like anyone who had become close to the boy, hearing about it was painful.

Kakashi and Iruka were both going crazy about the boy who had been long deemed an 'irreparable failure'. It seemed that if he was taught in just the right ways, his genius could possibly surpass Uchiha Itachi, or even his father. It was just a matter of hoping he could grow enough as a person to cope with those changes.

"Excellent," Gai said, coming to a rest as Naruto's arms quivered from the build up of all of the small spikes of chakra poisoning, "I think… you are ready to continue onward. I have gotten you a gift as a sign of your progress."

Naruto's eyes went wide with horror at the thought of receiving one of Gai's terrifying spandex outfits and Gai resisted the urge to smirk. He'd managed to fight Kakashi to a compromise and he pulled out a completely black spandex suit. Naruto didn't run screaming because it wasn't exactly horrible. Gai then produced a white chest plate and orange arm plates with the black Uzumaki clan Shirasen [Death's spiral] on them, along with white shin guards.

"It's not… creepy," Naruto said in amazement that anything from Gai could manage that feat.

"It is designed to allow the greater range of movement that advanced taijutsu techniques require in order to perform them without tearing your clothing. I spoke with your academy teacher Iruka about what sort of preferences you had," Gai said, not mentioning Kakashi's role in it, as they knew that Naruto didn't understand the importance of keeping his mouth shut, or how to analyze the situation with his teammate yet, "The arm and leg plates are for your weights."

Naruto looked ecstatic for a moment before frowning, "Wait, why weights if it's not about the physical body but your chakra instead?" Naruto asked curiously, "And won't taijutsu just tear through armor?"

Gai laughed and shook his head, "The weights used aren't to strengthen your muscles themselves, but rather force you to use progressively larger amounts of chakra constantly to move normally," he said, "Allowing you to constantly train your resistance to your own chakra."

It was a method mainly used by taijutsu specialists, as once the weights reached a certain level they could put a sizable drain on the total chakra a person had throughout a day. But unlike simply using up chakra for jutsu or tree climbing and such training methods, it was always funneling it into the muscles and causing them to adapt, as well as subtly improving a person's control over their internal chakra levels.

"Oh, awesome!" Naruto said with a grin, "But still… why the breastplate? I mean, wouldn't armor just collapse?"

Gai laughed, "I've heard that you have some rather impressive talent for learning fuuinjutsu, and it's only with such talent that armor becomes useful," Gai said, "Fuuin [seals] can be used to enhance armor to resist blunt or cutting impact, and with great skill in the sealing arts have other impressive effects."

"Wait… seals can do more than blow things up?" Naruto said in confusion, "Or… you know… seal things away?"

Gai nodded with a huge grin. According to the Plan™ fuuinjutsu was an ability that would not upset the Uchiha boy due to being relatively useless in his quest until he achieved a high enough level of prowess to use the advanced abilities. Considering Naruto was innately capable now of seeing the Fuuin that composed actual jutsu he even had a profound advantage, though no more so than anyone with the Sharingan could possess had they any inclination.

"Those seals you see when jutsu are performed, they are like any other sealing method, except they are not anchored physically and never visibly manifest," Gai said with a smile, "Fuuinjutsu are the basis upon which all jutsu are built. This was the great discovery that the Rokudo Sennin [Sage of Six Paths] made in order to create modern ninjutsu and genjutsu, as well as fuuinjutsu that require hand seals to safely use like the Jibaku Fuda."

Naruto's jaw dropped and you could faintly see the mouse in his head running frantically on its wheel in order to turn the gears.

"Holy Yondaime on a Stick!" Naruto shouted as he managed to work out at least the key points, something he was beginning to do with some of the stuff Gai said, "TEACH ME!"

Gai laughed, "I'm not that skilled at fuuinjutsu," he said, "But I am certain Kakashi-san knows quite a bit about it."

Naruto's eyes gleamed in anticipation. Kakashi hadn't really taught him anything yet that wasn't just making him try to catch up with the academy level, but he was determined to make his sensei teach him fuuinjutsu if it was the last thing he did.

"Now, put them on. I've already placed weighting seals, one of the few fuuinjutsu I know, on the inside of them," Gai said, "They should be set to the proper level for you."

Naruto nodded and grabbed the outfit, pausing to use chakra so he could heft the armor, and hurrying into the woods to change. When he emerged Gai couldn't help but smile. While it was obviously not as youthful as the outfits of he or his student, it had a bit of fierceness to it. The suit covered him from head to toe, save for his hands, feet and head, though Kakashi had insisted that it at least mask the lower part of his face in 'tribute to his incredible sensei and his dastardly plan' despite the fact that it was truly Iruka who came up with the plan. All Kakashi had done was go to Iruka with his problems and ensured the plan worked smoothly.

His face only showed from the eyes up, and his forehead was covered by his Konoha headband. The suit wasn't nearly as baggy as his usual clothing and displayed that he was actually rather stocky and muscular, not short and scrawny as the baggy clothing indicated. Such a build was likely due to using his sheer muscle power rather than chakra for taijutsu until recently. It did give him and advantage in having more muscle volume to distribute the chakra over, gaining more strength with the same resistance limitations due to the total amount of chakra he could cram into them being larger. All in all it made him look significantly more serious.

"Freaking awesome," Naruto said with a grin, "It's heavy though, but not as heavy as my limit."

Gai nodded, "It's not supposed to be. Moving at your limit will drain your chakra rather quickly, and your limit grows much faster proportionately than your total chakra, well maybe not _your_ total chakra, but in general," Gai said, making a qualification to account for his particular physiology, "But it will still reach the point where a half hour moving at top speed will exhaust you fully, at least once you reach the limit level that people like I have."

Naruto nodded, "Umm, so why is Lee so much faster than me? Has he been wearing weights since he was little?" Naruto asked, shifting uncomfortably before his chakra leveled out properly again.

"No, it is because a different method of enhancement is used for speed alone than for strength," Gai said with a grin, "But until you've finished polishing this level you won't be ready to move on to the next, though I think that next week I will begin showing you the training technique similar to the tree climbing that goes with it, but it will probably be quite a while before we reach the point where you reach the point where you can actually use it."

Naruto gave a frown and a sigh before nodding. Gai-sensei hadn't steered him wrong yet, even if what most of he said made no sense. He could see just how much better he'd gotten. He actually had some skills to back up what he said now.

"So are you ready to practice some more of the forms?" Gai said with a broad grin, "There's a latch on the back of your shin and arm guards that will release them to drop your weights when you need to train a technique that they would slow you too much to train."

Naruto rapidly nodded.

"Alright, you can remove them, and make some clones to work on perfecting tree climbing," Gai said before grinning, "Why not have them practice the forms while on the trees? If they dispel themselves they can just make more to compensate as long as there's one left."

Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly made the clones which ran off to work.

"Now let's see the movements of the Tachimono [Cutting Paper] kata of Konoha Senpuu Ryuu," Gai said and Naruto settled into the basic ready stance before beginning to work through the motions, occasionally stumbling and restarting.

* * *

[AN: The early training episodes will be coming to an end in the next chapter or two with the beginning of the wave arc and the expansion of focus from Naruto alone now that I've managed to deliniate his character thusfar and his progress. Here's to hoping you enjoy the story.]


	3. Chapter 3

"Maa, okay," Kakashi said with a grin, "I warned you all yesterday that today we would be going over the final academy technique, the Bunshin no Jutsu. I trust that you all brushed up on it."

Sasuke gave a little grunt as though it weren't something he even needed practice with.

"Kakashi-sensei… why do I have to bother with this?" Naruto asked with a frown, "I mean, I've already got the Kage Bunshin."

Kakashi smirked, "The energy of a single kage bunshin can form two hundred Genbunshin," he said with a smirk, "Beyond that, if normal bunshin are intermingled with kage bunshin, then even if your enemy knows you are using normal bunshin, they must treat every copy of you as though it were a true kage bunshin and a real threat."

Kakashi grinned, "And normal bunshin move at the speed of thought itself, according to the will of their creator. Each kage bunshin can control its own group of Genbunshin, allowing you to make large groups of Genbunshin move far more realistically than a single person producing that many could due to lack of focus on each."

"Even alone, a Genbunshin can force an enemy to react and lead them into a deadly trap," Kakashi finished, "Now, I'll go first."

Naruto watched him carefully as the lines formed and he winced. He'd been trying to bend the lines the wrong way the entire time. He swallowed hard as Sakura performed her own. It suddenly made sense why he'd never gotten it right before. His hand seals were right, but the way he was moving it once it left his body was completely wrong. Sasuke completed the jutsu offhandedly and turned to Naruto with a smirk, waiting for him to fail.

Naruto took a deep breath, holding his concentration as he tried to bend the lines the right way and to his utter surprise, slowly but surely they obeyed, locking the first seal in place, then the second, then the third. Nearly a thousand bunshin appeared in the clearing, scratching their heads in imitation of him.

"If it takes you that long to use it in battle you'll be long dead," Kakashi said, "And you have no focus to control their actions, they just monkey your own motions. You did the jutsu but you still failed. I warned you ahead of time to practice it, but you still didn't bother to practice."

"But I did practice! I really did, all night, I barely got any sleep!" Naruto shouted back and Sasuke snickered alongside Sakura.

The dull crack of his nose as Kakashi's fist smashed it in echoed around them and Sakura's jaw dropped in horror as Naruto's neck broke under the blow. Even Kakashi looked shock, before he disappeared in a plume of smoke and he glanced around carefully.

"I see how this is," Kakashi hissed, "Sasuke, Sakura, head to the Hokage tower. I'll deal with him then drag him there to get our mission."

Sasuke just shrugged and dug his hands in his pockets while he walked away with Sakura trailing behind. It was fun watching Naruto drag himself back, beaten bloody every day. It showed how much of a coward he was that Kakashi was taking longer and longer to track him down as he ran away. If he weren't so much of an idiot he wouldn't get in trouble so much. He could however entirely understand Kakashi's urge to beat him senseless. Who did Naruto think he was dressed up in that ridiculous outfit?

Kakashi walked carefully into the forest and found Naruto waiting for him in the middle of the clearing.

"Kakashi-sensei… why do you do this all the time?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Because you need it," Kakashi said with his eye smiling.

"What I need is to learn fuuinjutsu! Teach me!" Naruto said and Kakashi snorted.

"You don't have the talent for it. It requires far too much concentration and thought for you," Kakashi said as he rushed forward to dispel the obvious shadow clone. His eyes widened when he saw it form a single seal and he barely replaced himself with a log when the clone muttered, "Boom," and detonated the sealing tag it had stuck to the inside of its breastplate.

He was even more surprised to find himself surrounded by clones the moment he landed. They were laughably slow, but Naruto seemed to be using chakra to enhance them. Considering how drained Gai's sessions left him, the chakra drain would make him useless in less than a minute at this rate, especially given the twenty or so shadow clones.

The only problem was that the swarm of them meant that even with their much, much lower speed, they could pose a danger by sheer weight of numbers. It wasn't until the first he struck flickered out of existence rather than disappearing in a plume of smoke that he realized Naruto had immediately adopted the strategy he'd suggested.

Kakashi grinned as he leapt away and pulled a length of ninja wire from his pouch, quickly attaching a large shuriken to the end of a long line of wire and whipping it over his head and through the group of clones. Several of them managed to get away, but the speed the attack came at gave away that they were normal bunshin by their ability to escape, while the wire wrapped around the ankle of the kage bunshin who wasn't capable of moving at the speed of thought like the Genbunshin it had created.

A thread of lightning chakra down the conductive ninja wire was enough to dispel it, but for some reason a large falcon dive bombed him, clawing at his good eye and forcing him to drop the wire in order to kill it. The 'falcon' disappeared in a puff of smoke and a group of clones were immediately driving him back.

Kakashi gave a loud laugh, "Very interesting. I suppose it's okay for me to use the simplest of jutsu now," he said with a smirk and he disappeared from the line of attack of Naruto's clones, replaced by a boulder with an exploding tag on it. It immediately detonated, destroying the clone, and the shrapnel took out his final shadow clone. Hidden under a Kakuremino in the trees Naruto was forced to stifle a curse. Not only were his clones gone, but Kakashi-sensei had disappeared as well.

He had to come out of hiding to use any more abilities, as the motion of hand seals would break his cover. He looked around carefully and grimaced when he saw a seal hanging in the air not twenty feet from him. As he looked closer he realized he could see what looked like a faint silhouette of Kakashi-sensei, complete with the tubes inside him. He wasn't aware that this was due to the fact that the Byakugan's chakra sensory perception could see an enemy's chakra coils despite their normal sense of vision being altered. The only problem was that if he moved in any way, Kakashi-sensei was close enough to see him.

Replacement!

He reappeared with his hands already reaching the end of the Kawarimi no jutsu and he was gone from his location just as the trio of kunai thumped into the log he'd left behind. He was startled suddenly when he wasn't where he was supposed to be, and he glanced around and saw Kakashi where he'd been before, which meant he'd been replaced with his sensei.

His eyes widened and he leapt from the tree without hesitating, but it was already a bit late and the blast from the exploding tag he hadn't stopped to confirm on the tree smashed him into the ground so hard that even though he was reinforcing his body to its fullest his arm snapped like a twig, his shoulder dislocated, and he knew he'd broken some ribs as he lay there groaning heavily.

"Better," Kakashi said as he landed beside him and Naruto saw him perform a weird jutsu and his hand was enveloped in green light for an instant before it faded and he ran his hand over Naruto's ribs.

Naruto groaned in pain as he felt his ribs mend a little, but Kakashi pulled away before the bruising faded. He repeated the process with Naruto's broken arm, before wrenching the dislocated shoulder back into place as Naruto screamed, which made his sore ribs hurt even more.

"There, you're fine now," Kakashi said, "Get up. And remember what just happened for next time."

Naruto groaned as he lurched to his feet and unsteadily followed his sensei. It was hard to think through the pain, but Kakashi-sensei wasn't talking, so all there was to do was think… a little. Naruto was beginning to suspect that these beatings were Kakashi's idea of training, because he used what they'd learned in recent lessons to trounce the daylights out of him. At the end he'd always make a comment about it, like to remember the counter-Kawarimi he'd used moments ago.

Now that Naruto thought about it, it was a truly dangerous tactic. Naruto had learned through repetition and observing himself using it from an outside perspective that the Kawarimi caused both the user and the object they were switching with to instantly disappear, but it took almost a second and a half for them to reappear. Even stranger was that it _seemed_ like the person was still there until that time was up, but throwing kunai at them like that, and even wounding their 'afterimage' after it had been used didn't leave any wounds on the person who arrived.

By laying an exploding tag, which took about three and a quarter seconds to go off, near you and then replacing with someone who had just finished a replacement… it gave them less than a quarter of a second to identify and escape the trap you'd set. It was scarily dangerous. He'd have to make sure to never replace with anything with Kakashi-sensei's visible targeting range anymore so it wouldn't happen again, and to immediately escape if he wound up somewhere other than where he intended after a Kawarimi. Checking for the exploding tag, or being confused like he'd been would waste too much time and he'd wind up with a broken arm and ribs again… or worse.

They arrived at the tower and Naruto snapped out of his admittedly slow thought processes.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, please teach me fuuinjutsu," he requested as they approached Sasuke and Sakura.

"So the idiot doesn't want to be a shinobi any more? You want to become a civilian technician or something?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.

Fuuinjutsu was the basis of most technology. Everything from FVD [Fuuin Video Disks] to Naruto's fuse box, which helped regulate the flow of energy into the apartment and avoid any surging, used seals. Naruto still had to go and buy the tiny fuse seal tags because he couldn't really afford to convert to a circuit breaker box while still saving up his money for what he wanted. As far as most ninja below jounin level were concerned, fuuinjutsu was mainly for civilians.

It was only when a truly high level of skill was achieved that the lack of ease of use that most fuuinjutsu were held back by was finally equaled, then overmatched by their incredible power and capability to do things. Theoretically, anything could be done with seals, if you understood the art well enough."

"I don't wanna be a civilian!" Naruto shouted, "Seals are cool!"

Sasuke snorted derisively, "They won't help you win a fight," he said with a shrug, "But whatever idiot."

"See what you know!" Naruto countered and Kakashi groaned.

"If you promise to shut up you can have this. But I don't want to waste time answering any of your questions. If you want to learn it, you'll have to figure it out for yourself. That book should have all of the basic stuff you need to get started," Kakashi said before heading into the tower with the rest of the team behind him.

Naruto stopped for a moment to read the title, 'The Nature and Practice of Fuuinjutsu: An Introduction to the Sealing Arts' by S. Hiruzen, PhD. He shrugged and pocketed it before heading into the building.

* * *

Naruto groaned and closed the book before turning to his clones, "You guys keep reading… no slacking. Take a break for a little bit if you're bored, but keep working on it," he said as he made his way through his kitchen and out the door.

"Sooo boring," Naruto groaned, "There's no way I'm spending Saturday just reading about something I don't get at all. What's a parabola? What's a cotangent? And what in the bloody hell is an integral?"

He kicked an empty bottle lying on the sidewalk as he walked by, "I hate math… I hate math sooo much. Why does the first thing that I find that's really cool and Kakashi-sensei will give me any sort of help at something that has all that math in it? I don't understand any of it," he moaned, "There's no way I'm going to waste an entire Saturday trying to figure out something like that. At least my clones can do it."

He glanced around before grinning, "Ichiraku! Oh man, I've been so busy I've forgotten!" he said before taking off at a run for his favorite restaurant.

When he arrived he quickly slipped into his usual spot and grinned, "Hey Ayame-chan!" he said with his eyes turned up into U-shapes above his mask.

"Umm, do I know you?" Ayame asked.

"It's me, Naruto!" he said with a huge grin that showed even beneath the mask, "You probably didn't even recognize me in my new super-cool outfit."

Ayame's eyes widened, "What happened to your eyes Naruto-kun?" she asked in surprise.

"Eh, what's wrong Ayame?' Teuchi called from where he was boiling noodles for Chouji who was sitting at the end of the bar and eyeing Naruto curiously.

"I accidentally tried to channel chakra to my eyes… and well, the healers at the hospital refused to treat it in time. They seemed to hope it would make me blind," he said with a shrug and Teuchi dropped his stirring spoon into the pot with shock as a furious look crossed his face.

"Oh no… you're blind… I'm so sorry… Umm, I'm sure I can convince daddy to let you help here though!" Ayame said with a sad smile before crushing Naruto's face to her chest.

It broke Naruto's attempts to ignore that Ayame was in fact a woman, and she was incredibly pretty, and yes, she did shave down there, something Naruto found he rather preferred over the scary amounts of hair some girls had.

"No, no!" Naruto said, grateful that his black mask concealed nosebleeds perfectly, "I'm not blind. They said I was really, really lucky, because it cause my eyes to become a… umm, I can't remember what its called, but I didn't go blind and I can see chakra now!"

Ayame gave him a dazzling smile, "That's wonderful!"

"Umm, so can I have a miso ramen?" Naruto asked.

"Only if you promise to have another," Ayame teased and Naruto quickly agreed.

"Umm, hi Naruto," Chouji finally said as he set aside the finished bowl he'd just been given and waited for the next.

"Oh, hi Chouji," Naruto said with a grin.

"I couldn't help but hear how you hurt your eyes… does it hurt to see chakra?" Chouji asked in a concerned voice.

Naruto laughed and rubbed his head sheepishly, "Nope, but if I extend my range of vision too far it makes me get tired really quick," he said, "But otherwise it's really cool."

"That sounds really nice," Chouji said, "Umm, hey! Shikamaru, Ino and I passed our Jounin sensei's test!"

"Wow, cool!" Naruto said, "It must be great being on a team with Ino. I mean she's not as pretty as Sakura-chan but she's still really pretty."

Chouji winced, "Ino is scary. Shikamaru always winds up with a sore head after training, though we don't really do much," he said with a shrug, "Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei play Go while Ino talks and I eat most of the time. Sometimes we do team training and stuff though."

"Ahh, that must suck," Naruto said, "I've been practicing taijutsu really hard, but my sensei is mean and beats me up all the time, but I'm getting better so it takes him longer to! Sasuke is a big jerk though."

Chouji just gave Naruto a kind smile and nodded.

"We'll have to spar sometime," Chouji said with a grin and Naruto paled a bit.

Chouji and Kiba were the best two people in the academy at taijutsu. Chouji was a lot nicer than Kiba though, and stronger, even if he wasn't as fast.

"Umm, yeah, sure," Naruto said, grateful for his food's arrival.

Chouji left a few bowls later, a little saddened that Naruto hadn't seemed to want to talk much.

Naruto was almost finished when Iruka sat down beside him.

"Iruka-sensei! It's me, Naruto," he said with a grin.

"Oh hey there," Iruka said, returning the smile, "You look different."

"I know. I finally got some clothes as cool as I am," Naruto said with a laugh.

"So how have you been these past two weeks? Class has been quiet without you," Iruka said.

"I've been doing awesome, way better than I was before. Dattebaiyou!" he said with a grin.

[AN: I've had a little trouble with the translation of 'Dattebayo' and this is the nearest thing I can make sense of the phrase. As far as I can see if spelled alternatively as above it remains a slang term unique to Naruto. Dattebaiyou literally means 'Because of nurture/culture'. That can either be taken in context of the character's usual cheery attitude to give it an implied alternate meaning of 'because life is good' or more likely, in my opinion, its an accusatory and fatalistic counterpoint that implies lingering resentment beneath the surface. With this meaning the phrase likely takes the form of 'I am what people have made me']

Iruka grimaced at Naruto's favorite catch phrase, "So who is your sensei and what have you been studying?" he asked.

"Well my regular sensei is a lazy Cyclops with a short temper and a nasty side," Naruto said with a grimace, "But he is having this really weird guy train me in taijutsu. Gai-sensei is really cool. Well not really, he's really weird, but he knows a lot and is a really good sensei."

"I know he's really good because he taught Rock Lee, and Lee is the strongest genin I've ever seen, and he only graduated a year before me. He makes Sasuke look pathetic!" Naruto said with a huge grin, "So yeah, I'm getting to study with him and learn cool stuff about taijutsu. Gai-sensei is all with like the 'it's a mystical taijutsu training technique' and I'm like 'Hai Gai-sensei' and stuff and now I can walk on walls and trees and junk!"

Iruka stemmed his amusement over Naruto's enthusiasm at learning one of the most fundamental genin chakra control techniques.

"Gai-sensei is the one who gave me this outfit," Naruto said before pausing and staring off into space and cursing. He'd just gotten the memories of a clone that had fallen out of his bedroom window. It had been rough housing with his other clones, all of which had utterly abandoned studying. With a scowl he dispelled them all.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Iruka asked curiously.

"I asked Kakashi-sensei for help and he gave me some book by a stuffy old guy called 'Professor Hiruzen' about fuuinjutsu and it's really hard with lots of math junk that I don't understand and I'm not learning anything from it," he said with a pout.

"Hmm, sealing arts can be very dangerous," Iruka said while rubbing his chin, "I trust that you use your clones to practice so if something goes wrong you won't get hurt, right?"

Naruto's eyes widened and Iruka fought the urge to curse Kakashi for failing to mention that to him.

"Maybe you should just experiment with them and see if you can figure out the rules that way," he said with a laugh and Naruto's face lit up, "Because I know how much you like seeing things in action."

"Umm, thanks Iruka-sensei!" he shouted before slapping the money for his meal on the counter and taking off toward a training ground to try to practice Iruka's advice. If the math stuff was too boring, then just practice what really matters. He was pretty sure he didn't want to be anywhere near his house if he made a mistake so it wouldn't get damaged.

He flipped the book open and paged through until he reached the first real seal instructions, in the middle of the book after the entire set of stupid math junk. It was about the different parts that went into an actual seal diagram, with examples.

He pulled out the paper and began sketching a few of them out and wrote words beneath them describing what they were.

"Okay, so that's a containment sigil, which holds stuff," he said frowning at the first picture in front of him, "Umm, numbers junk. Yeah, the different numbers determine what sort of stuff it's designed to hold, so this four points containment sigil. That's designed to deal with energy or physical junk. Then there are the jumon [incantations] that go around it… hmm. Oh! That's why we have to say the name of a jutsu or think certain stuff really, really hard when we use it! It's because it does this psychopathic morphing residence thing."

Any philosopher of the sealing arts would have groaned and begun pounding his brains out with a hammer at that point, but Naruto pressed onward.

"So it's like the meaning in the jumon. It goes through the shapes and the shapes build the jumon into junk, like how the hand seals and me trying to push who I am into the jutsu make my kage bunshin appear, and the big seal on them, with the shapes in the middle. That's what is making it work, kind of like the nails and boards in a house, but the jumon is what shape the house actually is," he mused, "But all the weird symbolic calligraphy all over it, that's all the jumon about what the jutsu is supposed to do, plus who I am. Whoa, even if its all so tiny, I can't believe that everything I am is written in my clone."

He quickly made himself a shadow clone and peered at it closely. The closer he looked the more his eyes widened. It seemed that the further he concentrated on something the greater detail he could see it in. The harder he looked at the squiggly lines of the jumon around the central seal sigils that were connected together to make up the clone, he saw that even the individual jumon were actually other jumon that were so tiny and cramped together that they looked like it was just the ink from the one above.

His eyes got wider and wider every time he focused deeper, because it seemed there were just layers and layers and layers of jumon hidden inside the others, like when you looked really close at a sheet of printed paper and saw that the letters were actually made up of tiny dots, rather than one solid thing like they seemed to be.

"Wow. I can't believe that there's so much written on my clone. Is there really that much to me?" he asked in curious contrast to his previous disbelief.

He shook his head to clear it.

"So umm, to seal a physical object inside a scroll, I need a containment sigil that matches the type of object, a channeling sigil to put chakra into it with, a linking sigil to transfer the chakra and I think that's it. Wait, a controller sigil to make it absorb it and spit it back out," he said as he puzzled through the example, "Then I need to add the jumon that connect to it and describe exactly what I want it to do, and exactly what's being sealed. Wow this is way hard."

He frowned, "Oh! So that's how they keep junk from taking up so much space!" he said with a grin, "There are seals that make the writing scrunch up all small and stuff. See page 322 for a further discussion of imprinting meta-seals and their use in embedding jumon concepts too complex for inscription… okay, whatever that means."

* * *

Naruto tumbled head over heels across the ground before coming to a stop.

"Naruto, Sasuke, that's enough, the spar is over," Kakashi called out and Sasuke smirked at him before walking over to the side and taking a seat under a tree.

Naruto growled and punched the ground in frustration. I just seemed like it was never enough. Sasuke was still stronger and faster than him, and in their taijutsu only spars that difference created too much of a gap. Naruto wasn't sure that even a way cool mystical taijutsu artist training technique like walking on water was helping.

It was just so slow going and frustrating, and Sasuke still made him look bad all the time. He huffed as he went over to where the rest of the team was sitting.

"You three have been showing good teamwork lately," Kakashi lied.

It wasn't as though they were incapable of working together; it was just that they seemed unable to come together as a group. Sasuke was dissociated, Sakura was fixated and Naruto was as oblivious as they came.

"So I came up with a plan to help develop that further," Kakashi said with a grin, "Team formation training. You're all improving, but if you can bring it together so that you're no longer three people working on the same task, but rather a team relying on each other to work seamlessly you'll be a lot better as a whole."

"But Naruto-baka always messes up, even on simple missions," Sakura said, "Yesterday he dropped all of those trays of eggs we were carrying."

"I was pushed!" Naruto grumbled and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Then you'll need to pick up the slack for your teammates in the areas they have trouble in," Kakashi said, "If you have Naruto carry things that are unbreakable next time the mission will go better and you won't have to go back for more."

"And how is delivering groceries supposed to help us against a real enemy?" Sasuke asked derisively.

"Because it will teach you the habits and characteristics of your teammates, such as Naruto's clumsiness," Kakashi said, "And show you how to fill roles where each of you does best in battle."

"Hn. That's easy then. We just have Naruto make shadow clones to distract the enemy, while Sakura works on protecting the objectives and I deal with the threat," Sasuke said with a shrug, "I don't see why we need all this stupid teamwork training."

Kakashi resisted the urge to groan. Sasuke was still head and shoulders above Naruto in terms of sheer skill and physical ability, but Naruto had already started becoming a wily opponent. The casual spars his team had weren't very well designed for the style of fighting he was teaching Naruto through their regular beatings, the ambush and run method, using as many cheap tricks and distractions as possible while maneuvering for a final blow. It wasn't a form of combat Sasuke would ever be willing to use, but it was the form of combat that all ninja above an experienced chuunin preferred unless they had other issues to concern themselves over that left them uncomfortably exposed, like civilians, or a genin team to protect.

"Well, this training should be fairly simple then," Kakashi said with a grin, "I'm going to tie your wrists together with Sakura in the middle as she seems to be the one who ties this team together, and then you're going to run a little obstacle course I set up."

Naruto's face brightened at the thought of practically holding Sakura's hand, while Sakura's face did the same at the thought of Sasuke before frowning when she considered she'd be tied to Naruto as well. Sasuke simply grunted in frustration.

* * *

"Iruka, I've got a problem," Kakashi said as Iruka handed Gai a beer.

"I thought the plan was going smoothly?" Iruka asked.

"It is, right now," Kakashi said, "Naruto's already starting to pull alongside Sakura in terms of physical abilities, though she's still faster than he is by a little bit."

"Not for long," Gai said with a grin, "I'm starting him on the speed control method tomorrow."

Kakashi nodded, "That's exactly the problem. He's growing faster than anyone else on the team," he said with a frown, "I'm worried that before the Chuunin exams roll around Sasuke will start feeling threatened."

"You're not actually considering entering them," Iruka said and Kakashi shook his head.

"Not as they are now," Kakashi said, "If they keep going this way they'll get slaughtered. Sasuke spends just as much time as Naruto training in private, so he's still growing very quickly, but Sakura, she's barely grown at all. And even with Naruto and Sasuke's growth, their teamwork is so shoddy that it's ridiculous."

"And Sasuke's beginning to feel frustrated with your teaching methods?" Iruka asked.

"I focus on the basics. They all need the work if they're going to reach a mastery of any of the core abilities," Kakashi said with a frown, "I'm trying to get Sasuke inspired by the replacement technique, as that's the one most combat viable for him. The problem is that he continues to see the academy abilities as nearly useless. His major focus is on his fire techniques, I think he's begun working on a new one, and on his weapons and taijutsu ability."

Gai frowned, "And your other two?"

"Naruto is making the Henge his own," Kakashi said with a laugh, "He actually changed into a bird and dive bombed me, trying to gouge out my eyes in one of our roughhousing sessions. How in the hell he figured out how to make an avian Henge fly is beyond me. I've tried it before and I just can't get the damned motion right. As for Sakura… like I said, she's hardly grown at all, save for a minor increase in speed. Even that seems to be subconscious and limited to impact speed, as the only person she uses it on is Naruto. It's as though she has an instinctual grasp on the speed control method, but can't seem to realize it and use it outside of hitting Naruto."

He shook his head, "I haven't seen any real signs of that ability when she isn't beating on him though," he said sadly, "Which is a shame. With her chakra control she could be fast as the wind, even if she'd burn out quickly with her low stamina. Her control is high enough that she could easily get a twenty times return on her standard speed and damage, which is admittedly low. It would still put her quite a bit above Sasuke in that department and with her near textbook perfect form she could be the best at taijutsu on the team, at least until she ran out of steam."

"So you're wondering how to handle the Uchiha's growing frustration?" Iruka asked.

"Preferably before he feels threatened by Naruto. Right now I've only got them going face to face in taijutsu spars where Sasuke can wipe the floor with him using his higher chakra resistance with the strength method, but that will only last so long," he said with a frown.

"Four months," Gai said, "Four months and Naruto should have at least the basic movements coordinated with the speed control method. Even if I can't get his chakra resistance up to that level so quickly, I can pound chakra control and the muscle movement patterns into his head so he can beat him on speed so long as they don't wind up in a grapple."

"I'm just not sure what will happen if Sasuke feels like Naruto has surpassed him," Kakashi said with a frown, "Sasuke has natural talent, but Naruto's steadily increasing drive and his own natural talent are catching up. It's a bloody catch 22. If I train Sasuke too much, his danger level when he turns will be immense, but if I don't, he'll only turn that much quicker."

"You shouldn't be fatalistic," Iruka said with a scowl, "You don't know for sure that he'll turn traitor."

"He's obsessed with Itachi to a terrifying degree," Kakashi said, "You can see it on his face whenever he's brooding over not making as great of strides as his brother, even though Itachi was far more talented and willing to accept teaching. If he doesn't turn now, when he finds out the Uchiha massacre was state sanctioned he will for sure."

Iruka sighed, "You're right," he said, "God damned old bastards."

"They're already on my back for his 'lack of proper training'," Kakashi said, "I'm worried they're going to start giving me ultimatums on releasing advanced techniques to him."

"This is what happens when you give civilians a say in military matters," Gai said with a grunt as he sipped his beer, "It's scary when Homura, Utatane and Danzou are the most sensible members of the group. I know that in the wake of the attack it was necessary to stabilize the economy but a ninja village is supposed to be a dictatorship not a democracy."

He got two sounds of agreement out of his drinking companions.

"This sucks utterly," Kakashi declared to the ceiling as he drained the last from the can, "I'm screwed any way I go."

"Then why worry about how Sasuke will react?" Iruka asked.

"Because the old bastards will be breathing down my neck when Naruto surpasses him, or even looks like he's getting close," Kakashi said with a scowl, "And I don't want to retire yet."

"So he's a fan of flashy moves, but doesn't care about getting the most out of them?" Iruka said, "Teach him flashy moves then. Quantity versus quality. He may have the toolbox, but he doesn't care about using them properly so it will even it out."

"Teach them tree climbing too," Gai said, "Offer Naruto pointers on fuuinjutsu when you do. Sasuke views it as a civilian art, so if you make it clear you expect Naruto to practice the exercise on his own time you can get the best of all possible worlds."

Kakashi brightened, "And who knows. Maybe he'll die on our first C-Rank and everyone will win."

"You're walking awfully close to being cut off from the beer Kakashi," Iruka warned with a scowl, "Even if it would be convenient for everyone, I can't condone that. He still hasn't done anything wrong, even if it is an inevitable result. You could still get through to him or something."

"How?" Kakashi asked in exasperation.

"Not a clue," Iruka replied with a shrug.

* * *

"You've got to take the principals of water walking and apply them to your muscular control," Gai explained, "In water walking you used rapid and short pulses of chakra to stabilize you on the water, now you need to apply that to your muscles."

"Huh? How's that gonna make me faster?" Naruto asked while scratching his head in confusion.

"If the duration is shorter, then you can push more chakra into them without causing as much damage," Gai explained, "It's like taking a constant amount of diluted poison at all times, versus taking much more concentrated, but much smaller amount. You're still getting just as poisoned, but in that instant where you push the higher concentration of chakra into your muscles, they're far stronger than they are when you push the diluted amount in."

"So by making the burst shorter I can make my muscles flex harder while taking the same amount of damage?" Naruto asked with wide eyes.

Gai nodded, "However this method is ten times more difficult than the strength method. It's powered by chakra control, requiring you to not only be very fast with your use of chakra and release of it, but you also have to be able to put it at the higher level in that brief moment with unerring accuracy. Because of the far higher concentration, if you overshoot the mark it will damage your muscles far faster than the strength method," he said.

"The second set of difficulties lies in that the burst of chakra has to be so well timed that it occurs right when your muscle flexes, but no longer than that," Gai instructed, "And because of the need for the very fast burst, you have to be able to push it into each muscle that a certain movement requires one at a time. This means that you'll need to re-coordinate your movements individually so that you can get your mind to subconsciously memorize the sequence and coordinate it perfectly."

"That sounds really, really hard," Naruto said and Gai nodded.

"This is what marks a true taijutsu artist," Gai said, "Most shinobi who do not study under a taijutsu master never learn this except for a few of their most common taijutsu techniques that they've managed to get it to work instinctively with. It is very hard work and will likely take longer. There are also factors that will become important as you begin to reach great heights with the speed technique."

"Like what?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Your muscles will begin to contract with such great force that even with the same amount of chakra channeled into your bones and skin, your own muscles will snap your bones and the impact will tear your skin. At higher levels of the speed control method your control will have to grow to allow you to control the level of chakra going to your skin, bones and muscles in different quantities."

Naruto's jaw dropped, "That's crazy," he said in shock, "You really think I could do that? I'm not so good at chakra control."

"That is why you learn in stages," Gai said with a broad grin, "So that you can take it in small steps at a time. The same large reserves that give you poor control will prove to be an asset after you've put in enough hard work to reach that level of control. Whereas most ninja will tire quickly using the speed method and eventually stop training to improve it to prevent themselves from burning all of their chakra in the first few movements, you will be able to reach much higher heights with it before you reach that limiting factor."

"Wait, so with more chakra, I can move faster eventually because other people don't have the reserves to keep increasing it with training?" Naruto asked in awe.

"In a word, yes," Gai said with a broad smile.

"Let's do this!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically.

* * *

Naruto watched smugly as the Fire Daimyo's wife smothered the cat with hugs. Stupid cat had it coming. The thing was an unnatural monstrosity. He swore that he remembered blowing it up at least twice before they caught it. Sakura's blows to the head were enough proof of that for him.

"Good job Team Seven," Sarutobi said with a smile as she left the room and he looked over his papers.

"We'd like to take another mission, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said with a grin.

"Well I have several other D-Rank missions. The Yamanaka gardens require watering and weeding, I have several requests for grocery delivery, and one fence repair job," Sarutobi said as he reviewed the missions in front of him.

Naruto began tugging on his hair in frustration, "No, no more! Give us a good one old man! I swear I'm about to lose it and start killing kittens with these stupid missions," Naruto growled.

"Naruto," Iruka said with a frown from his desk, "D-Rank missions are perfect for rookie genin. That's what the ranking system exists for. C-Rank missions are for the experienced genin teams and beginning chuunin, while B-Ranked missions are for experienced chuunin and rookie jounin. Only the elites take A-rank missions, so D-Rank missions are the best for you."

"Then give as a C-Rank! We're plenty good enough. Even if Sasuke sucks, I can pick up the slack!" he shouted.

"Actually that might be a good idea," Kakashi said rubbing his chin and trying to ignore the betrayed look Iruka shot him.

"Sandaime-sama, you can't let them go on this. They were my students no more than a month ago, they aren't ready for this!" Iruka said, shooting glares at Kakashi. He was worried that Kakashi might use this mission to do just what he'd taken to mentioning at least every other drinking session that had become regular with the two of them and Gai over the past month.

"They're ready. I think you'll be surprised at how much they've all grown," Kakashi said with an eye turned up into a smile that made Iruka's blood run cold. It wasn't as though he could just call bullshit on him based on their conversations that were nearly thrice weekly now.

"They're my soldiers now Iruka," Kakashi said, perhaps toeing the line a little to far in his next words, "They're old enough to bleed and die for Konoha."

Sarutobi coughed into his hand, "Well, hopefully that will not happen. Especially within the context of a C-Rank mission. I've actually got one here on my desk that should be rather safe. It's a simple escort mission to Nami no Kuni [The Land of Waves], for a bridge builder. The highest threat level you could expect from it would be simple bandits or unruly civilians, but it may help ease some restlessness."

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, "Thanks Jiji!"

"Naruto you idiot," Sakura hissed in a whisper, "He's the Hokage! Show him proper respect!"

Naruto ignored her and the Sandaime called in their client.

"Tazuna-san, I've found a team to take your mission, please come in," Sarutobi called out into the waiting room.

A weathered and callous hand wrapped around the door frame as Tazuna stepped in the room and it became instantly obvious by the jug of sake in his hand that the hand was there to steady himself. He rubbed his wrinkled forehead with the back of his hand holding the jug, pushing the band of rope tied around it up slightly.

"They're just kids," Tazuna said, "They look like they suck super-bad."

Kakashi managed to catch Naruto by the collar as he began shouting invectives at the drunken bridge builder concerning his age, sexuality, parentage and one truly strange slur involving a goat that Kakashi didn't quite catch. Creativity was certainly one of his strong points.

"Don't insult our client," Kakashi said sternly and swatted him on the back of the head.

"He started it!" Naruto protested before folding his arms and sulking.

"Please forgive him, he's a bit slow, but he's just starting out. Not to worry though, I'm one of Konoha's elite jounin, and I'll be more than enough to handle anything that comes our way," Kakashi reassured him.

* * *

[AN:] And there is our segue into the wave arc. Hopefully things will get more interesting from here out.

I should be maintaining a fairly regular posting schedule (at least once every two or three days, likely more, save for weekends), and I'm hoping to keep a pretty steady 60-70K word a week total. After all, it's only a first draft, so I hope you'll have plenty of comments on how I can improve it.

As always, standard disclaimer (see first chapter) applies.


	4. Chapter 4

"Gai-sensei!" Naruto shouted as he rushed into the training grounds Team Nine used and found Lee and Neji in the midst of a pitched battle, though Neji looked as though he were beginning to tire.

"Naruto!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Naruto!"

"Don't touch me!" Naruto shouted as Gai tried to hug him and he jumped away.

"What brings you to our youthful practice?" Gai asked, "Have you come to see my Lee spar against his rival Neji?"

While the fight looked really awesome and he wanted to stay and watch it he couldn't let himself get distracted as he didn't have much time.

"Actually, I'm leaving on my first C-Rank mission. We'll be outside the village for a while and I was wondering what I should practice if I have time," Naruto replied curiously.

Gai rubbed his chin, "Well, I'm not sure you'll have much time to train, but if you do, just keep working on getting the speed control method down. That will likely be the focus of our training for quite a while. Work on improving the speed of your chakra bursts and then increase your intensity. We'll work on coordinating your movements more once you're finally up to speed," Gai said with a broad grin and both thumbs in the air in his classic 'Nice Guy' pose.

Naruto nodded rapidly. The speed training was really hard to do, and he knew he'd have to relearn moving while using it all over again, like he'd had to when he learned the strength method.

"Thanks Gai-sensei!" Naruto said with a grin, "I promise I'll tell you all about it when I get back!"

Gai waved at Naruto's retreating back as he sprinted away.

"I hope Kakashi knows what the hell he's doing," Gai muttered before turning back to watch his students spar with a slightly more subdued attitude.

* * *

"Eh, Tazuna-san, what's Nami no Kuni like?" Naruto asked as they walked down the path that led away from Konoha, their steps kicking up dust as they went, "Are there lots of ninja there?"

Tazuna frowned at the blond annoyance before grunting out his answer.

"No. Nami no Kuni only has a single Daimyo. It's a small country made up of lots of small islands," replied in a voice that showed his mounting irritation before his eyes gained a far away look as whatever else he was going to say trailed off.

"So if you're like a super important architect, your bridge must be really important. Is it big?" Naruto asked with an intrigued expression.

"It will be the biggest bridge in all of the land when it's finished," Tazuna said with a grin, "A seven mile long bridge connecting Nami no Kuni [the Land of Waves] to Hi no Kuni [the Land of Fire]. It will be a monument to last the ages."

"Wow, maybe you aren't just an old, smelly and grumpy drunk," Naruto said cheekily and Tazuna growled.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked as she glanced up at their sensei whose nose was buried in his favorite piece of literature. She clenched her fists to keep the urge to beat either her Sensei or Naruto away, "Why doesn't every country have a ninja village?"

"A large part of it is based on the Daimyo," Kakashi replied as he licked his thumb and turned the page, "If a Daimyo is strong on his own he won't want a ninja village in his lands. A strong ninja village means that its leader supplants the Daimyo as the premiere military power in an area."

"So it's just because Daimyo don't want to share power?" Sakura asked with a frown.

"Not exactly," Kakashi said while unsealing a large illustrated scroll from a scroll in his flack jacket labeled 'for teaching, use when bored', "Economics play a large part in it, as well as the number of ninja a village can turn out."

"The complications of facing ninja in battle are entirely different from that of facing samurai and mercenaries," he said while pointing at the chibi [tiny super deformed and cute] drawing of a ninja and the crossed out chibi drawings of a Samurai in full armor and a Youhei [mercenary] in piecemeal armor with a pole arm, "Without other ninja to stop them a group of opposing ninja can ignore your normal soldiers and go after your leaders directly."

He motioned to the drawing of a man in a daimyo robe and a ninja behind him with the sound effects 'sneak-sneak' written over him.

"In a war involving ninja, it's mainly ninja fighting ninja to keep the local Daimyo, the Shogun of a nation, that's the Daimyo that local ones pledge their allegiance to, lesser military generals, and so on from being killed," Kakashi said while rolling the scroll up with a snapping noise and sealing it back away.

"Psst, Sakura… is it just me or is it weird that he has junk like that on him? It's like he's just waiting for us to ask some random question," Naruto whispered while hiding his mouth from Kakashi so he couldn't read his lips. All he got in return was a fist to the side of his head and a face full of dirt.

"Why would that matter? I mean the armies would still be there," Sasuke pointed out with a frown, "It wouldn't mean anything if the armies were still there to destroy the other country. Of course the ninja could probably just face them directly and slaughter them."

Kakashi frowned at the dismissal of the danger of non-ninja but smiled again before continuing, "By removing the leaders it means that the army has no one in charge of it. Without them to hold it together or make sure its efforts are coordinated into a successful campaign it will begin to fall apart," he said, "If local daimyo or the Shogun are killed it can cause civil unrest, or even a civil war as the other daimyo begin squabbling to try to take power, assuming that there isn't a competent heir that hasn't already been killed."

Kakashi shrugged, "By doing that it makes a war much easier to leave to the normal soldiers to win without risking the relatively smaller numbers of ninja by fighting in the conflict directly. We may have a lot of ninja, but we're still far smaller than the armies that feudal lords wield."

Sakura frowned, "But I thought that only nine people became genin this year," she said with a sour expression, "How can Konoha have large numbers of ninja when so few graduate?"

Kakashi chuckled, "I said you'd be sent back to the academy if you failed my test, not that you'd have to stay an academy student," he replied with a roguish grin that made his one eye twinkle mischievously, "Those who fail to capture the attention of a jounin-sensei are shunted off into the rank and file, essentially doing duties like gate guards or managing archives, doing paperwork, and so on. They only rarely get noticed later on by a jounin who's willing to take them as an apprentice. Occasionally after they get older they can move up the ranks if they work extremely hard. The ones that show the drive to improve despite their early failure can join the ANBU and rise through the trainee ranks in hopes of attracting the attention of a squad captain and achieving a field promotion. That's really rare though."

"Oh," Sakura said as she wondered about the other members of Sasuke's fan club and whether or not they may pose a future risk, "That must be frustrating, not being able to advance."

Kakashi shrugged, "A lot of the ninja with low potential wind up content in those positions. They can still call themselves a ninja and work for Konoha's military, but their jobs are generally low risk."

"They're just cowards," Sasuke said dismissively, "Afraid to get their hands dirty like real ninja."

Kakashi decided not to comment once again and things quieted down for a bit. Inevitably it was Naruto who broke the peace once more.

"This is so exciting," Naruto said as he jumped up and down, "I never had an idea that there was so much space outside the village."

Sasuke snorted at his moronic grin and lack of ability to keep from looking like an idiot.

"The villages are all really tiny. Is Konoha the biggest village in the world?" Naruto asked curiously as he thought about the few tiny villages they'd passed through thus far.

"Didn't you pay any attention in academy?" Sakura muttered without considering just how rhetorical the question was, "Konoha is ten miles in diameter, with a population of about seven hundred thousand because most of it is dedicated to clan lands and training grounds, but the capital of Hi no Kuni is huge. It's an entire metropolis, with millions of people in it, and several smaller cities all bunched around it."

Kakashi nodded and spoke up, "The two villages we've passed through were just tiny hamlets, no more than a thousand people, probably half that. That's because the local daimyo is in Otafuku Gai, which is still a day away. There are bigger towns around, but this section is mainly farmland or dedicated to forestry so there aren't as many people."

"Oh," Naruto said with a frown as the mouse running on the wheel to turn the gears of his mind panted as it tried to keep up, "So it's pretty much just lots of people bunched together in small spots and then big areas of nothing?"

"A lot like inside your head," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Jerk," Naruto said with a scowl at Sasuke.

"That's actually a surprisingly semi-intelligent realization, Naruto," Kakashi admitted and Naruto beamed, "It's because it's hard to enforce the rule of law the farther you move outward from civilization. Near the capital or a daimyo's hold it's relatively safe because there are so many soldiers, and most small villages have deputies, like the Military Police in Konoha, to enforce law. The constant presence of Samurai in major cities is because every daimyo is required to maintain a standing army should the Shogun call upon them for war. Out in the large spaces in between law essentially does not exist, which makes it dangerous to settle too far away from civilization."

"That is precisely the reason why escort missions are requested," Kakashi said while turning a page in his book, "It's because the no-man's-lands in between civilized locations are infested with bandits who prey on travelers for profit, either in what they can steal from them, or ransoming them. If they can't find someone to ransom them to or can't be bothered they just sell them to slavers."

"That's why either ninja or mercenary body guards are usually hired in order to protect someone who has the money to hire them from those kinds of threats. It's also one of the only missions that rank and file ninja, the sort who aren't apprenticed, are assigned outside the village, and usually only in large groups, because most bandits are usually civilians whose farms or businesses have failed and have decided to take up being a bandit. Even a weak ninja can take down that sort of bandit."

"What about rounin?" Naruto asked curiously, "I read about them in a comic book."

Kakashi coughed into his hand as he tried not to look embarrassed in front of Tazuna over Naruto's comment, "Usually rounin join up with a mercenary company, but those who have dishonored themselves so thoroughly that respectable mercenary companies won't hire them wind up leading gangs of bandits," he said, "Or becoming local tyrants in an area where a daimyo's hold is very weak or it's just too distant from any sort of civilization for anyone to claim it. Sometimes they even wind up becoming true warlords and build up new centers of civilization there with themselves as daimyo."

"Oh! I know this!" Sakura said as the memory dawned on her face, "That's how the smaller countries in between the elemental nations arose. Officially each of the five elemental nations claims borders that only stop when the next elemental country begins, however early on in their histories the spaces in between were vast tracts of wilderness."

"That's how places like Kusa no Kuni [the Land of Grass] and Ame no Kuni [the Land of Rains] came into being. Rounin and their gangs built camps and sometimes travelers between the countries settled in them until they became large enough for those rounin to declare themselves as a daimyo. Because they were so far away it wasn't as though there was anyone to stop them," she lectured while ticking off her points on her fingers, "And they claimed their own borders, even though they already were officially claimed by another country. Though I always wondered why the big countries never went in and took it back over."

Kakashi grinned, "It's usually because they declare themselves vassal states. They're essentially autonomous, but they pay tribute to the elemental nation that has a claim on the land, and if they don't have a ninja village they give exclusivity to the ninja village of the country they're a vassal of for governmental missions. However they can and fairly often do switch alliances as well," he said.

"Ugh," Naruto said while holding his head to ease the information overload similar to what he felt when a dozen kage bunshin dispelled at once, "That's so complicated and boring. Can't you just say that rounin go off and find a bunch of wilderness and turn themselves into daimyo? It's a lot simpler."

Sasuke snickered at him and he got an obligatory swat from Sakura for his troubles.

"We're going to stop for a day at Otafuku Gai, right? All this travel is killing my feet," Tazuna complained as he stopped and removed his shoe to rub a bunion, and action that made Naruto sick to his stomach.

"I think we can arrange that," Kakashi said as he began reading his orange book once more. Naruto couldn't resist using his sight to quietly read it as well; giggling perversely under his breath, though quietly enough that Sakura wouldn't hear him.

'Mmm, Sakura,' Naruto thought as his eyes flickered toward his pink haired teammate, 'I hate that you leave me behind… but watching you from behind makes it worth it.'

That was enough to distract him from Kakashi's book as he watched her walk in front of him alongside Sasuke. She may not have much in the way of chest, but she had a really pretty bum.

* * *

"This is so cool," Naruto mumbled as he walked down the streets of Otafuku Gai.

Kakashi was escorting Tazuna around the town. Since there was quite a strong police presence, given that there was a local Daimyo's castle at the center of the town, the biggest worry there was pickpockets and the occasional thug. That was why he had given the three of them the day off from their duties to get a chance to 'see what the world was like'.

It was a little frustrating though. He had wanted to hang out with Sasuke and Sakura-chan, but Sasuke had just ignored him and taken off with Sakura in hot pursuit after telling him to 'beat it'. Their rather cold dismissal left him to wander the streets of Otafuku Gai alone to find ways to amuse himself without them.

It was a lot like Konoha's business and residential districts, but not nearly as cramped. In order to fit all of the hereditary lands and training grounds inside the walls of the village, all of the actual businesses and civilian residences were cramped up into an area about a third of the size of the actual village, which meant that all of the buildings were huge and multistoried, often with different stores on different floors of the same building.

Otafuku Gai was a lot more spaced out. It was fairly sprawling as villages go. It's population was only about half to a quarter that of Konoha according to Sakura, but it was a five miles to a side, though it was more square shaped than Konoha, whose walls were a huge ring containing the village. Still it was filled with people.

It was a totally different and amazing feel too. People would look at his clothing, then his headband and girls, kids and women would smile at him and men would give him a respectful nod, rather than the harsh glares he received in Konoha. Amidst all of the bustle and the smells of city life there were signs hanging or propped up on the sidewalks all over the place, but he was looking for one sort of sign in particular.

"RAMEN!" he shouted gleefully as he bolted toward the board propped up on the sidewalk down the block bearing a bowl filled with noodles painted in bright colors on it.

It was a rather large stand, bigger than Ichiraku's, but then again their stand was one of the smallest in Konoha. That thought always gave him a pang in his chest because he knew their lack of business was mainly because of him. The only consolation to him was that for some reason though a lot of high level ninja ate there, and ninja had big appetites. It was one of the things that kept Ichiraku alive.

Iruka always used to jokingly say that he had the stomach of a Kage, the creativity of a jounin, the planning of a chuunin when it came to pranks, the desire for acknowledgement like a genin, the skills of an academy student and the attention span of a mouse on a wheel. Deep within Naruto's mind the mouse on the wheel squeaked in protest of that. It was an insult to the attention span of all honest blue collar wheel running mice everywhere.

He'd even seen the old white eyed guy there once or twice talking with old man Teuchi while he ate from his bowl in a very polite way. That was a travesty. Having chopsticks shoved so far up your rear that you couldn't unwind and enjoy ramen the way it was meant to be eaten was horribly wrong in his mind.

Naruto rubbed his chin and made a mental note that was soon forgotten to thank Sakura again for the 'word of the day' calendar she'd given him when he tried to use 'thingy-ness' as a word.

As he took a seat his eyes flickered around at the bustling stand. There were three younger guys and a pretty blond haired girl working there and one old woman with grey hair done up in buns with a wooden spoon in her hand that she seemed more than willing to use on her apprentices.

"Mornin' Ninja-san, the name's Mai, what can I getcha?" the old woman asked with a broad grin.

"Umm," Naruto said as he looked up at the menu written in chalk on a huge blackboard over the bar, then checked his incredibly cute toad-shaped wallet, Gama-chan [Froggy], "I'd like a deluxe Miso ramen, super-sized, and keep them coming, and a cherry soda."

The woman's grin broadened. Ninja always ate a lot and were great for business, "Eh, Ichiro, whip up a miso monster, all the fixings, and get another going when you're done. I'm gonna need a glass of bleeder," she shouted back before turning to Naruto, "Do you want ice in that?"

Naruto nodded and she shouted that information back as well.

"So how are things going?" she asked with a grin, "Enjoying Otafuku Gai?"

"Umm," Naruto said while he rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to react to a situation with a stranger who wasn't inherently hostile, "I'm actually wondering what to see. This is my first time here."

"Ahh, alright then," she said with a laugh, "Well, if you go to the Fujiwara Casino remember not to use any of your ninja things. They have security methods to make sure nobody cheats and any active chakra use will set things off. There's also a big movie theatre not far from there. I hear they're playing the new Fujikaze Yukie movie, "Princess Fuun and the Winter's Heart". I'm a big fan."

Naruto nodded rapidly as he mentally took note of her advice. He was a big fan of the Princess Fuun movies, even if Sasuke said they were girly. Fujikaze Yuki was HOT with a capital sizzle. He could sit through a three hour romantic adventure if she was in it, given that all of her movies had at least one nude scene. Back before he understood that a pervert was someone who got caught he used to close his eyes and cover his ears and feel ashamed when he wound up peeking. Now he could finally appreciate the true beauty that was the Princess Fuun series.

"Let's see, there's the onsen [hot springs], they're pretty popular. You're pretty young for the Red Light District, but that's one of this city's biggest draws. It's pretty shameless as far as I'm concerned, but eh, it brings in tourists so I can't really complain," she said with a shrug as the brown haired guy, Ichiro, slid a bowl of steaming noodles and a glass of cherry soda with chipped ice in it in front of him.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto said in abject glee while wearing an expression that later in life women would understand to be his 'happy face' before breaking his chopsticks and diving into the food of the gods.

Mai's jaw dropped and hearts appeared in her eyes as his mask came down, revealing an adorable little boy who looked a lot like her grandson. The bowl went up and then seconds later came down empty with the mask back in place.

"So fast!" she said in awe with sparkles of moisture in her eyes.

"More please," Naruto said with a grin, "I think I can handle three or four more."

Mai nodded quickly and shouted back to her apprentices before leaving Naruto to demolish the food he'd ordered. Several bowls heavier and with a tiny dent put into Gama-chan he walked away from the stand while patting his stomach. His face was splayed into a broad grin of true satisfaction that no amount of money could provide, save if it were used to buy ramen.

"So good," he mumbled, basking in the warm and happy sensation ramen always gave him, "Now where's that movie theatre?"

Three hours later a teary eyed Naruto walked out of the theatre sniffling.

"Poor Fuun-hime [Princess Fuun]! Rojin-san died," he sobbed uncontrollably as he recalled the horrible scene where they'd been on the wrecked ship in the middle of the North sea and Rojin-san pushed Fuun-hime up onto a piece of floating debris so she wouldn't freeze to death in the water. It had been so sad watching her hold his hand as the cold overcame him and he floated into the depths mere minutes before the rescue boats arrived.

While he was extremely secure in his masculinity, he was a sucker for sappy movies and the Fuun-hime series was one of best. Plus Fuun-hime's boobs were world famous and appeared at least once in every movie. It took nearly fifteen minutes to get the tears to stop flowing and thoroughly blow his nose before he fully calmed down.

He stopped to throw the tissue away and think about his next destination. Mai-san had mentioned a Casino around here and that sounded really fun. He'd never gambled before so he quickly decided that it was at least worth trying once. Kakashi-sensei did order them to 'see what the world was like' after all.

The Fujiwara casino was run by the local Yakuza, a highly respected group that avoided making the lives of people on the straight and narrow path difficult. He was surprised at how nice the Casino looked, considering it was run by mobsters. It was more like a tiny amusement park but without rides and more smoke and alcohol.

"Excuse me Ninja-san, you'll need to remove your mask while here, for security purposes," the woman at the entrance said, putting a hand on his chest to hold him up until Naruto pulled his mask down, "I can convert some money into tokens or chips for you so you can try your hand at the slots or the tables."

Naruto nodded rapidly and fished 2000 ryo out of Gama-chan to have it changed over. It wasn't too much, so he didn't feel bad about it diminishing his savings and setting back his goal too far, but he was fairly certain it would be plenty to at least try every game once or twice. With a small tray of chips he walked deeper into the bustling casino before finally stopping in front of a pachinko machine [a sort of game played with tiny metal balls]. He sat down with a huge grin and fed a 100 ryo token into the machine and smiled when it lit up and the game began.

A few minutes later he was frowning at how poorly he was doing and he decided to call it quits and take the small winnings to the counter. He only got back a 50 ryo token, which was barely enough for the small slot machines. With a shrug he fed it in and his eyes widened when three strawberries lined up in a row and the machine spit out nearly ten times that number of tokens.

Several more attempts, nearly half of which were winning attempts that resulted in his money nearly doubling from what he had after his initial win passed and the very last pull made him nearly fall out of his chair. The final reel fell into place on a golden seven and the machine lit up and started ringing wildly, but not tokens came out. He frowned at the machine, wondering if it was broken when a hand tapped him on the shoulder.

"Congratulations," the man in a tailored suit said as Naruto spun around, "You've hit the jackpot. If you'd come with me to the front desk I can confirm the win for you and you can receive your winnings."

"Wait… how much did I win? No coins came out," Naruto said in confusion and the casino employee quirked an eyebrow at him.

"The jackpot prize is too large to have a machine feed it out," he said, "It's 6,000,000 ryo."

Naruto's eyes went as wide as saucers as he followed the man, ticking his fingers in hopes of some comparison of how much that money was worth. A bowl of deluxe ramen was only about 500 to 600 ryo… so 6,000,000 ryo was about 12,000 bowls of ramen, or the same value as 60,000 cans of soda.

The man turned around when he heard the thud of Naruto fainting and groaned.

"I hate it when they do this," he mumbled as he began nudging Naruto to awaken him.

"Ramen… so much ramen," Naruto groaned as he awoke trying to grasp the noodles that danced just out of his reach.

"Come along sir, we need to gather your winnings," the casino employee said while eying him nervously in case he was going to have a breakdown. The word 'winnings' was more than enough to bring Naruto flying to his feet, eager to gather what he'd won. It wasn't until nearly ten minutes later when the woman at the corner handed over the small metal case holding 600 individual 10,000 ryo notes that it really started to sink in.

"Lucky little bastard," a deliciously busty woman with boobs the size of his head and dark large nipples muttered as she marched past him and out of the casino while carrying a pig.

"A pig?" Naruto mumbled as his eyebrow rose in surprise before shaking it off under the general 'people are weird' heading, though he'd remember those humongous knockers the rest of his life. There was something strange about her though, and it wasn't just the boobs big enough for him to stare at forever. He gave a perverted giggle as he walked out of the casino and made a mental note to wash the blood out of his mask again.

* * *

"Unbelievable," Tazuna was still grumbling while they walked down the road two days later, "Lucky little brat. I never win and he won a jackpot on the slots no less!"

Naruto pulled his eyelid down in mockery of the old man while the garish gold necklace he'd picked up bearing the word 'PIMP' in the weird Raigrish script used in Rai no Kuni jangled on his chest.

"You look ridiculous," Sasuke muttered darkly, "You're making us all look bad by association."

"That man said it was the height of fashion, so there!" Naruto said with a scowl as he lifted the black fedora hat with the bright peacock feather in the orange hat band from his head and scratched it with the cane in his other hand.

"Oh god," Sakura said, burying her face in her palms to hide her embarrassment for the thousandth time in two days, "That old hobo was selling aspirin tablets as soldier pills with the merchandise spread out over a card table!."

"Feh, whatever," Naruto said with a flippant gesture, "You're just jealous because I'm pimp, see, the necklace says so."

"Naruto, do you even know what a 'pimp' is?" Kakashi asked. The amusement factor had faded fast and he felt the need to squash this level of ridiculousness that surpassed even Gai's spandex before it became a part of Naruto's regular costume.

"Uhh, it means I'm super-cool, right?" Naruto responded uncertainly.

"Naruto, a pimp is a man who has prostitutes working for him," Kakashi said.

"Prostitutes? Like a false leg? That's cool, peg legs are awesome," Naruto said while folding his arms in self satisfaction, "But not as awesome as my white fur coat, Dattebaiyou!"

It was at that point that Sakura started crying.

"That's prosthetics. Prostitutes are whores, like your mother was, idiot," Sasuke sneered, unaware of how Kakashi had to catch his hand which was clutching a kunai inches away from plunging into his spine.

"Shut up Sasuke… wait, whores?" Naruto said with a goofy grin before shrugging, "I still don't see what's wrong with that. It's a time honored and respectable occupation."

"Is that really the image you want people associating with you as a ninja?" Kakashi asked and hid the kunai behind his back with an innocent whistle as his students looked back at him.

Naruto's face turned to horror, "No! I wouldn't want that… But the coat, hat and cane are really cool, can I keep them?" he asked, "I'll get rid of the necklace."

"No, those have to go too," Kakashi said sternly as he waved for him to hand them over.

"What about the hat? The hat is cool, and without the other stuff it won't make me look like that. I've always wanted a hat," Naruto whined.

"Fine, but get rid of the feather," Kakashi said, drawing a line in the sand that he wouldn't let him cross.

"Fine," Naruto pouted, taking off his coat, necklace and cane and stuffing them in his pack to seal away later. Storage seals were so cool. They let him just carry around a few scrolls in the pouches under his breastplate and leave his pack empty rather than lugging around all the weight Sasuke and Sakura were.

"The feather Naruto," Kakashi warned as he pointed at the hat and his eye twitched.

"Ugh, no fair," Naruto grumbled before plucking it out of the hat band and carefully put it into a pouch on his pack. No sense wasting an obviously expensive feather.

* * *

They walked for nearly an hour before Naruto suddenly slowed down and made a small motion to get Kakashi's attention.

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei, there's a puddle in the middle of the path up ahead, about a quarter of a mile," he said softly.

Sasuke snorted, "Aww is Naruto afraid of getting wet?" he asked with a self satisfied smirk. The past week had been full of great opportunities to mock Naruto. It was almost worth having Sakura hanging all over him. If only he could train by beating on Naruto while they walked, but Sakura seemed the only one with that right.

Kakashi on the other hand frowned. They were in the middle of what was usually the winter dry season in Hi no Kuni and it hadn't rained in weeks.

"I mean it Kakashi-sensei, there's something weird about it," Naruto said as he saw the 'idea image' of a Fuuin superimposed over the puddle, "Like it's a jutsu or something."

Kakashi's eyes went wide as his paranoia became justified. He trusted Naruto's eyes quite well, and that was why it was his job to scout. He could keep moving most of the day with a radius of a half mile of vision without being exhausted so much he couldn't put up a fight at the end of it. Kakashi had verified that by maintaining the regular beating schedule, but taking it easy so no real injury would crop up. It wasn't until he extended his vision out beyond that range that the drain started to speed up, but he could still run it all day if he kept it below a mile in radius.

"Alright," Kakashi said as he scratched the cheek of his mask, "It probably doesn't concern us, but keep on your toes. It hasn't rained in weeks, so Naruto is likely correct about it indicating the presence of ninja. Sasuke, I want you to hang back with me while Naruto and Sakura guard Tazuna. They'll probably avoid us since we shouldn't be their target, but it's best to be prepared. Just in case, don't seem like you're paying any extra attention to the puddle."

'The odds of it not concerning us are very slim, but I need to know if it's someone after one of us, or if I need to have a little talk with Tazuna. They won't be able to act naturally enough to prevent whoever it is from being alerted if they think it's really about us,' he mused silently as his eyes flickered toward the old man.

His paranoia wasn't unfounded and he used the Kawarimi just as a spiked chain wrapped around him within seconds of passing the puddle. As he hovered in the 'place in between' that only those who'd achieved true mastery of the technique ever consciously experienced, he saw his afterimage, the result of the general strangeness that space-time jutsu wreaked on reality, shredded by their chain. As the pair of ninja blew past it and he was forgotten it changed into a log as the delay period between initiation and completion of the jutsu ended and he and the now sliced up log manifested where he had been. He paused from his position, clinging to the stump of the branch he'd replaced himself with using chakra to see how his team would react.

The two re-breather wearing ninja called out his death 'one down' and Sakura screamed in horror.

He frowned as Naruto seemed to freeze up, but Sasuke went right toward the pair, the headbands of which declared them to be nukenin [ninja who have snuck away from their village and been declared AWOL and were usually hunted down] from Kirigakure no Sato [the Village of the Hidden Mists] based on the slash across the village symbol.

The pair of nukenin were laughing as they bore down on Naruto, who had frozen in position in apparent shock and called out the immanent kill before their attack was suddenly halted by Sasuke's kunai pinning their chain to a tree.

Sasuke's response slowed them enough to deliver a roundhouse kick to the head of the first and slam him into the other and off to the side. It didn't slow the pair of now furious ninja down and they flicked a clasp on their clawed gauntlets that the chain was linked to and they came loose before blurring away from Sasuke toward Tazuna and Naruto simultaneously.

Kakashi was about to burst from cover to take out the two ninja when eyes widened as he realized what was going on. Tazuna suddenly kicked Sasuke, who had appeared in front of him to defend him away with a controlled speed no civilian could accomplish while softening the blow to prevent him from being hurt.

The plan became obvious as Tazuna grinned broadly as the Kiri nukenin tried to slow down without his speed sending him tumbling, but Tazuna seized his gauntlet before shouting out 'BOOM!' followed by a powerful explosion, a spray of flesh and the broken armless body of the nukenin slamming into a tree on the opposite side of the path with enough force to topple it onto him.

Kakashi decided not to interfere with the other ninja, assuming Naruto would use a similar method as the ninja didn't have enough time to slow down but his blood ran cold when the Ninja's claws dug into Naruto's shoulder. Blood splattered into the air and Naruto screamed in pain but wrapped his arms around the nukenin's gauntleted arm and his other arm while Naruto's legs slipped behind his ankles, knocking both into the ground in a grapple.

Kakashi was already moving from his position when he saw that Naruto's hands were clasped into a hand seal and he was laughing, rather than freaking out. The scream of the Kiri ninja was deafening as stone materialized in the same location that Naruto had been an instant before, seamlessly merged with the nukenin's arms and legs.

"The hell did you do, moron?" Sasuke shouted as he dashed back out, searching for Tazuna, "Where's that retarded bridge builder, did he get killed? I heard an explosion."

"Tazuna-san is safe," Naruto groaned as he emerged from the trees, clutching his wounded shoulder.

"Good work, both of you," Kakashi said as he eyed the horrified looking Sakura while extracting the mangled and barely living nukenin from beneath the tree. Naruto went pale when he realized just what he had done. He stared blankly at the mangled body of one ninja near death in front of him while the sound of the other with his limbs melded with a huge boulder screaming in unimaginable pain burrowed into his eardrums.

"You're monster!" Sakura whimpered as she shrunk back from Naruto, who winced at the comment that was even more painful than the burning sensation in his shoulder.

"Sakura, be quiet!" Kakashi growled as he checked over the nukenin who had been at ground zero of the exploding tag, "Damnit, he's too far gone."

He sighed and wiped off his bloody hands before walking over to the other as he heard the ninja he'd left behind gurgle from the half dozen ribs puncturing his lungs before giving a rattling cough and the gurgling noise slowed then stilled.

"Huh, translation error," Kakashi said as he peered at the man merged with the boulder. It was something even he'd never tried with a Kawarimi, though he'd definitely have to use it in the future. He gave a tug on the screaming ninja's body and the boulder moved with him.

"Wow, it's completely merged with his limbs, as though they occupy an intermingled space," Kakashi said, "I'm pretty sure there's no way to fix that for someone else, well at least not with my skill level."

"You did this?" Sasuke asked in shock at the power of a jounin.

"Naruto… he killed him!" Sakura screeched and Sasuke's head snapped around to view Naruto who had dropped to one knee as the burning feeling spread across his chest. Sasuke stared at him with a mask of shock on his face before his eyes narrowed.

"Kakashi-san, Naruto-san seems to be in severe pain," Tazuna called out realizing neither of the boy's other teammates were planning to alert their sensei of his condition.

Kakashi pushed the plunger on the syringe of morphine he'd stuck in the nukenin's arm in hopes of killing the pain enough to question him later and rushed over to Naruto's side.

"Naruto, what's going on?" he said as he checked the wound and noticed that it was already clotting.

"It burns," Naruto gasped out and Kakashi's eyes widened. Naruto screamed as he dipped two fingers into the bloody wound and sniffed them.

"Damnit, poison," he said before fumbling in his pouch for generic poison neutralizing pill. It wasn't potent enough to really stop the effects of any specific poison, but it could at least diminish the damage of weaker ones. Naruto thankfully ate it as he whimpered on the ground.

Kakashi performed several hand seals and his hands glowed green for a brief instant before he moved them over the wound and scowled.

"Blue ringed octopus poison, shit," he said, "He needs a hospital, now."

"I'm fine Kakashi-sensei," Naruto groaned as he quickly felt the pain lessening, "The burning sensation is fading."

Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise before the reason dawned on him. His healing was using the generic antidote as an accelerant to metabolize the poison and replacing the cells at such a rapid pace to offset the damage it was causing that it was quickly being neutralized.

"It's almost completely fine now," Naruto said in awe as he pulled himself up into a sitting position, "Wow, medical pills are awesome."

Kakashi shook his head in amazement as he roughed Naruto's hatless hair and turned to Tazuna, "You lied to us when you requested the mission. This has become a B-Rank mission at the least," he said as he fixed the bridge builder with a hard stare, "Those two are the Demon Brothers of the Mist, infamous for continuing to fight no matter what. This is grounds for termination of our mission contract."

"I want to know how the hell the idiot beat these two." Sasuke growled before he sneered dismissively and grunted, "They must have been weak and taken a lot more damage than I thought from that kick."

"Umm, I made a kage bunshin when I first saw the puddle and had it use the Henge to mimic the old guy," Naruto said as he rolled his shoulder experimentally and winced just slightly as there was just a little pain left behind from the nearly healed wound, "It put a Jibaku Fuda [exploding tag] on itself and used the Kawarimi to switch with Tazuna-san. The other one was just an accident from replacing myself with a rock. I think I screwed it up though. My clone was supposed to put an exploding tag on the rock, but it seems like it forgot to."

Kakashi groaned as Naruto admitted melding the ninja with a rock was unintended. Sometimes he really wondered if Naruto had a penchant for eating the feet of rabbits.

"Huh, so pretty much because you couldn't beat them you cheated," Sasuke said with a shrug and Naruto just shrugged back.

"Jerk," Naruto growled, "Of course I couldn't beat them. Real ninja are way stronger than us jackass. You haven't been the one getting your head beaten in by Kakashi-sensei for a month!"

"Real ninja? What are you? Just pretending to be a ninja? That would explain a lot, moron," Sasuke retorted, "They were pathetic. If you hadn't kicked me out of the way I would have wiped the floor with them."

Kakashi resisted the urge comment on how a 'real ninja' fought, but didn't want to ruin the illusion in Naruto's mind that every opponent he fought would be drastically stronger than he was and that any victory could only come from having far better timing, cheap tricks and sneaky misdirection. It was a good philosophy to have any way you went, and self confirming, as every enemy that fell to you was further proof that being sneaky was the optimal way to go when at all possible.

Naruto just growled and grabbed his backpack before stomping off in the direction of the stream near the edge of his vision, "I'm going to go change and wash up, I'll be back in a few minutes," he said angrily as he stormed away and Kakashi sighed.

"How can he do that? He just killed him and he doesn't feel bad about it at all!" Sakura hissed, "That's sick. I knew there was a reason my mother told me to be careful around him. He actually laughed before he melted that guy's arms into the rock! It's like he likes hurting people."

"Sakura, this is the first time Naruto's ever actually hurt anyone," Kakashi snapped as his irritability got the better of him, "He's numb right now, something you'll experience too when you make your first kill, and unless you plan on quitting as a kunoichi, don't doubt that you _will_ wind up killing in this occupation."

Sakura's face turned red, then paled and she turned away and walked over to a nearby tree before sitting and pulling her knees up to her chest.

"I think we're going to have to end this mission," Kakashi said with a frown, "I'll give you an opportunity to say your piece when Naruto gets back and ask them if they want to continue on, but I'm inclined to send you on your way without us."

"We need to talk," Tazuna said with a panicked and pleading expression, "I need to tell you what's going on."

* * *

[AN:] I'm glad for the pleasant reviews so far, but I'm hoping to see one or two harsher ones in the future. Can't improve a story without a little criticism, though it does stroke the ego pleasantly to have positive ones (a lot nicer than the bastard editors who have given me the priviledge of wallpapering a whole room in rejection slips).

A more serious note now, I'm up to +50K words so far and I'm wondering if you wanted me to post chapters at a standard pace, letting me throw in a bit of editing time or just churn them out as quickly as possible before giving it one hard final edit when it's complete.

As an aside I'd like to say that Naruto probably won't turn into a super cool conventional genius any time soon. Sure there will be things that he really shows his talent in, but there's also plenty of idiocy to spread around as well. As for anything plot wise, well, I'll just let you see and then poke holes in the inconsistencies you spot so I can go back to fix them.

Ugh, I hate authors who prattle on incessantly in author's notes, and here I am rambling at you. Until the next update of Koudoukou, take care!

Edit: Caught a few errors I missed and cleaned things up a bit


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto grimaced as he washed the blood from his upper body. It was all his own but he couldn't help but think of it as belonging to the two ninja he'd hurt. He felt horribly sick to his stomach. Up until now he hadn't realized that his 'spars' with Kakashi were deadly, and if his sensei weren't going very easy on him, no matter how beaten up he wound up, he'd be just like the two out there.

It made him feel slimy, knowing that he hadn't beaten them like a real fighter could, but at least he was still alive. They wouldn't have been as gentle on him as Kakashi would have been. Naruto scowled as the image of Sasuke pinning their chain to a tree and batting them away with a single kick ran through his mind. It only made things worse seeing definitive proof that Sasuke was that much stronger than he was, and was just toying with him in practice.

He dry wretched a few more times as the sound of the ninja who had been caught in the explosion gurgling his last breaths ran through his head before taking a deep breath and plunging his head into the cold running water.

"Now Sakura thinks I'm a freak," he groaned as he remembered the look of horror on her face, "It's not like it matters anyway. She'll never stop looking at Sasuke, not when he's so much better than me and I have to cheat just to stay alive."

He bit his lip and punched the ground, "Everyone's so much stronger than me! Gai-sensei's teaching me, but it feels like I'm getting nowhere," he growled and after a moment of clenching his teeth until they hurt he screamed in frustration.

After taking another deep breath he mumbled, "I just have to work harder. If I become really strong then… well, if they were stronger then me and I beat them, what if I fought someone who cheats?"

His eyes widened before he scowled, "Even then I'd still lose if I fought them face to face, because if they tricked me like that I'd lose even if I could wipe the floor with them," he said, "Is this what being a ninja means? Hiding like a scaredy cat and cheating to win?"

Kakashi's words from after his eyes were injured echoed in his head.

'It's just like how a shinobi is only stealing enemy documents if they get caught.'

It wasn't the original context of his words, which had been about perversion, but maybe it still held true.

Maybe cheating like this was only cheating if you lost. Was it worth winding up like those guys in order to fight like a real ninja, like Sasuke and those two? It wasn't fair, it was stupid. There was no way to win in that situation. Either you fought like a sneaky coward, or you'd eventually wind up being killed by someone who was.

"Forget it," he growled as his frustration reached its peak and he unsealed a new body suit and mask so he could change. He was so upset he didn't even feel the flash of pride he'd felt every time he'd used the storage seals so far, his first really useful fuuinjutsu trick.

Once he was dressed once more and his armor was back in place he marched back to where they had battled and found Sasuke and Sakura leaning back against trees on separate sides of the path. Both ninja were gone and Kakashi was off to the side talking quietly with Tazuna. He couldn't find his hat anywhere either and sighed. After what had just happened he didn't particularly feel like tracking it down. It was a cool hat though, and he resolved to get another like it the next time they got someplace civilized.

"Alright," Kakashi said as he strolled back over looking sheepish while Tazuna looked vaguely smug, "It seems like our client is building a bridge that a very powerful businessman doesn't want built. Those two ninja were hired to kill him. Care to explain further Tazuna?"

Tazuna nodded before speaking and gesturing nervously, "Gatou isn't just the super-rich merchant everyone thinks he is. He hires nukenin and disreputable mercenary companies no one else will hire to do his dirty work. About a year ago he suddenly decided to take control of Nami no Kuni. He used money and violence to quickly gain a monopoly on the shipping business."

Tazuna took a deep breath and paused as his scowl deepened before he continued, "Because we are an island nation which used to be a major trade spot, when he seized control of all of the shipping our economy collapsed. Since then he's killed anyone who has tried to stop him. He uses our country to take slaves and as a place to trade them and move the highly illegal varieties of drugs through like 'glint' and 'tar'," he said, naming two drugs that were banned in nearly every country due to their incredibly addictive effects and health damage to the user as well as the very dangerous behavioral changes they caused.

"So that's why you couldn't afford for a more expensive mission? It's because this Gatou guy made the whole country poor?" Sakura asked and Tazuna nodded with an expression of shame on his face.

"If you guys leave then I'll definitely die," Tazuna pleaded with a truly pathetic expression on his face, "This bridge project is vital. Our country's spirit is nearly broken and if this bridge fails the people will have no heart left to fight with and Gatou's takeover will be complete. No one has any money to get help other than you four, not even the Daimyo. He gave me the money to pay for this mission, and hundreds of other people chipped in all they could so we could afford it."

"We'll do it," Naruto said as his eyes hardened at the thought of someone who would do that to an entire country.

"Hey, don't just go making decisions on your own;" Kakashi insisted with a stern look at him, "This is a decision for the whole team."

"If the coward is in, I guess it would be stupid for me to back down," Sasuke replied with a shrug as he eyed Naruto with his brow furrowed in thought.

"We could really get killed; we're not ready for this!" Sakura protested and flinched away when Naruto turned his intense eyes toward her.

"What's worth more? Are the lives of three genin of greater worth than the lives of all of the people of Nami no Kuni?" Naruto demanded with his conviction burning in his eyes, "And besides, sensei is a jounin. He didn't even get involved in the last fight. Hey sensei! Why didn't you jump in?"

Kakashi coughed into his hand to cover his amusement, "Well I needed to figure out who they were going after, so that I knew whether or not it was one of us or if it was Tazuna-san who was the target. I was ready to step in at any time if things became to dangerous," he said, leaving his wish to see how they'd react in a combat situation unspoken, "And I promise you that I'll die before I let any of my students get killed."

"Umm, okay," Sakura mumbled as she realized Sasuke was glaring at her and she didn't want to upset him by speaking out further against continuing the mission.

"Alright then," Kakashi said with a sheepish grin at Tazuna, "I guess we'll continue onward, at least until we get you to your home."

"Super thanks! I promise that Nami no Kuni will be super grateful to you! I'll try to make sure that you get proper payment for the mission once our country gets back on its feet," Tazuna promised.

* * *

Hundreds of miles away in a building nestled away in dense forest a far more sinister exchange began to play out as voices rang through the building.

"You've failed me Zabuza," a short and wrinkled man with white hair that stuck out in a ridiculous hair style growled and then shouted at the man in front of him, "You said you were the best! Is this what I can expect out of you?"

"Stop bitching Gatou," a man with black hair sneered. His lower face was covered in bandages and his eyes were hard as his fingers stroked their way across the cold steel of the foot wide, eight foot long blade, not including the two feet of handle at the end of it that he was resting across his lap, "I'll go personally this time. Their heads will be rolling on the ground before they even know they're dead."

"Are you sure?" Gatou asked before hissing out a warning, "If you screw up again I'll use the new mercenaries I've hired. I've been promised that they'll be far more potent than any other. Maybe they can get the job done in your stead."

"Didn't I tell you I'd go personally? Unless he's being escorted by one of the fucking Sannin, he's a dead man," Zabuza repeated and extended his blade out, held steady and flat at Gatou, "Got that little man?"

Gatou gave a noncommittal grunt and turned his back and walked out, followed by the flustered sycophant who was the chief lawyer in charge of covering the midget of a man's scrawny, wrinkled, pale ass. In between bouts of kissing it anyway.

"His heart was racing Zabuza-sama," a soft feminine voice said from behind his right shoulder and the heads of the six other nukenin arranged three to each side of their leader turned to look at its source.

"Everyone's heart races when my Kubikire Houchou [Neck-Severing Butcher Knife] is inches away from their face. It's probably nothing beyond the normal sliminess Haku," Zabuza said with a shrug as he glanced up at the pretty face in a turtle necked sweater with long black hair tied back save for two locks that draped down and Haku leaned forward with their arms braced against the back of his chair.

"It was racing when he mentioned the mercenaries, and his eyes twitched to the lower right and dilated," Haku said softly, "He's planning something with them."

Zabuza scowled, "Then I'll just have to finish this quickly. If we kill someone as big as Gatou this early it will bring the Hunter ninja down on us and we'll have to move again," he said with a dark look as he eyed the doorway the businessman had departed from and his fingers clenched around the handle of his Kubikire Houchou.

* * *

The soft whisper of oars cutting through the water was the only sound in the morning fog, leaving Kakashi alone with his thoughts.

The past week since the encounter with the Demon Brothers had been extremely tense amongst his team. Naruto seemed to be starting to cope with it, but Sakura still seemed shaken, and Sasuke was brooding and staring at Naruto harder than ever. It was as though all of the meager progress he'd made on improving their teamwork had dried up like mist on a hot day.

At least this mission now had official sanction. He'd sent a message to the Hokage from the next village they had reached after the attack that had a post office and the reply had returned via the emergency mission update scroll he had in his scroll pouch at all times. The Hokage had received a promise of future payment from the Daimyo of Nami no Kuni for whatever the mission ranked if they stayed until the completion of the bridge.

Nami no Kuni had incredible strategic importance as a tribute state to Hi no Kuni, and there was an entire squadron of Flamewatch Guards from the capital on their way, courtesy of the Shogun himself, scheduled to arrive within the next week to week and a half to clean up any mercenary presence that remained behind in the aftermath. His only concern was with the man who led the group of nukenin that Gatou had hired.

Momochi Zabuza was one of the Legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, an A-Rank enemy and elite jounin. If he came face to face with him things would be touch and go for a bit, since he would be forced to fight an all out offensive in order to keep him occupied enough to protect Tazuna, Sasuke and Sakura. It was a bit of an odd feeling, to be able to exempt Naruto from that list. He knew that Naruto would be able to avoid Zabuza long enough for him to come up with a way to capitalize on the distraction.

He hadn't been able to get much more out of the longer living one of the Demon Brothers, Meizu, before he'd gone into shock and joined his brother in death. However if Zabuza was running with the same group he had been when he'd made the assassination attempt on the Mizukage, the others were all mid genin to low chuunin, all lower power than the Demon Brothers had been, and numbering no more than six all told.

Backing down wasn't an option though. This was their first opportunity to become legitimately involved with the takeover in Nami no Kuni, which was technically claimed by Mizu no Kuni [the Land of Water]. If this situation was maneuvered right, given the weakness of Mizu no Kuni; Hi no Kuni, and by proxy Konohagakure could snatch up Nami no Kuni as a tribute paying client state. With the economic situation broken it would give them possession of a major economic lynchpin.

It made him nervous how well informed the Hokage was concerning the mission, and his willingness to hand it over. His only explicit instructions were to stow Naruto in a safe place and directly assassinate Gatou if the situation went FUBAR. Most disturbing were the final words that appeared on the mission update scroll.

'I think Uchiha Sasuke will be pleased to have the opportunity to gain some combat experience.'

Short and innocent, but the meaning was clear. Don't minimize risk with the Uchiha if it would jeopardize the mission. It was deeply unsettling to get that order from the top. Sure he'd made a few drunken comments previously, but letting one of his students die, no matter who they were, wasn't something he'd ever allow. It went against his personal creed, one passed on to him by another long dead Uchiha as unlike Sasuke as day and night.

His hand clenched imperceptibly. He'd just have to end anything that came up quickly. It would be difficult with the mobility advantage so heavily skewed towards Zabuza.

Having to protect a target was not his forte; it's why escort missions were always a full detail of ninja of equal rank to any perceived threat. Three genin and a jounin were fine for a C-Rank protection detail, but against an A-Rank opponent it usually required four A-Rank jounin to prevent the assassination. That was where the trouble lay, in that playing defense against another ninja was far more difficult than offense.

His eyes sketched over toward his team as he tried to catalogue his assets. All he could hope for was forewarning from Naruto's eyes, but beyond that, not much in the way of help could be expected. With the power disparity it was as though he were protecting four civilians against another ninja of near equal power to himself.

He resisted the urge to groan. In their genin test Sasuke had shown that he _knew_ how to fight in true ninja style, but it was as though he had completely regressed once he felt he was beginning to get stronger. His lack of contact with any real enemies had droned out the method the academy pounded into the heads of their students that was essential to survival. Then again, it happened with most genin teams.

It was almost a right of passage in truth. Coming out of the academy they believed the lessons in only an academic sense, but they quickly discarded it as 'stupid' now that they were 'real ninja'. It wasn't until a ninja had gotten through that phase and come around again to the way a ninja was supposed to operate that they were selected as Chuunin. It wasn't as 'cool' from the perspective of the person fighting that way, but to the judges watching a match wherein a ninja rarely made any real appearance other than probing defenses before finally moving in for a kill was something that was much more likely to catch the judges attention. It showed that a ninja could be trusted to think things through, analyze their opponents, and when they acted it was with finality.

It was far more terrifying to watch true ninja fight and know that the enemy was chasing after ghosts and shadows until the final strike revealed what was real and what was false. That was the draw of the chuunin exams. It wasn't a silly gladiatorial fight, it was more akin to a live action suspense thriller, at least the few good matches, where the predator hunting its victim couldn't be seen, couldn't be tracked and couldn't be comprehended until its final bloody climax.

Not that it mattered at all in Naruto's case. He would become chuunin the moment every civilian over the age of 25 died and not a moment sooner. It would have been more of a mercy to send him into the rank and file. He would have shown through there anyway and been able to receive field promotions, bypassing the bias that acting as an apprenticed genin subjected him to if he ever wanted to advance in rank.

Sasuke on the other hand might even make it if he showed no such traits as long as he completed a full match and hence was eligible for promotion. The majority of the voting block to select chuunin was composed of merchant clans, with each village's top ten clients selecting the new chuunin that particular village would promote. That meant the Haruno clan, the Urahara clan, the Shogun of Hi no Kuni, the Futaba Corporation, and a slew of others.

Only three on the list, including the Shogun, did not have family in the village proper, and didn't have an interest in the 'tragic figure' of the last Uchiha for the sole sake of his clan name. In the Shogun's case that last name would essentially ensure his vote would be negative. Of course the same number that had no intrinsic positive interest in Sasuke were the only ones who didn't have a real grudge against Naruto, so in that case the situation was reversed.

He shook his head to work himself back onto topic. He was still scratching the bottom of the barrel while trying to come up with an effective plan against Zabuza, but his mind kept wandering back to the Sharingan in his left eye. He'd have to use it, burn his sole 'get out of jail free' card in hopes of pulling a victory quickly enough and keeping Zabuza on the ropes and away from his actual objective. With it he'd be able to see the 'idea' of the Fuuin of any jutsu Zabuza used to hide. He'd be able to move directly toward the source and engage him before he could make the assassination.

Of course he'd have to be quick about it. If he used no other chakra, the Sharingan could drain him dry in a half hour to forty five minutes on the outside. In an intense battle, five minutes of active high chakra combat use was all he had to work with. If he didn't keep the pressure on Zabuza at all times he'd use the break in intensity to make his move on Tazuna and his students. He sighed and rubbed his temples before straightening with a smile as the bridge came into sight through the mists.

"WHOA! It's huge!" Naruto enthused loudly as his eyes widened at the amazing sight of the two thirds completed bridge.

"Shh! Keep it down idiot! Why do you think I'm not running the engine?" the boatman hissed as he shot a glare at Naruto, "Are you trying to give our position away?"

Naruto had the good grace to look ashamed as the boat approached the shore and the boatman started using his oar more like a pole as he moved the boat through tall reeds along the edge that concealed them completely. There was no indication of their passage save for the soft hiss as the reeds slid along the edge of the boat.

"I'm taking us in through the mangroves," the boatman whispered as the boat slid silently into a current that carried them into a section overhung with branches and the roots of huge trees that rose up out of the water and arched over their heads.

"Those are so big," Naruto whispered and Tazuna nodded with a look of pride on his features.

"The mangroves of Nami no Kuni are a unique species. They're far hardier to the cold, and grow much larger than their counterparts," he said as their boat passed through a natural tunnel formed by the roots, hidden from view by the trees until they came out in a small area that was mostly hidden from view by a boat house.

"This is as far as I can go. I've got a run to smuggle some food in to get to or I'd take you all the way to your place," the boatman said sadly.

"I understand," Tazuna replied, "That's more important, but I want a chance at getting some of it before all of the meat's been bought up. Gatou's men have taken to putting holes in the fishing boats lately."

The boatman nodded as they disembarked and made sure Tazuna would give his daughter the man's regards in hopes of a few of her famous home baked cookies.

"Wow things sound really bad here," Naruto said with a frown as the true level of the fear and poverty of Nami no Kuni settled into his mind.

He could truly sympathize with them. He understood fear very well, and had grown up terrified that someone might finally decide to bridge the gap from simply glaring at him to really trying to hurt him, though the Anbu had intervened the few times that had happened. He'd never eaten well due to being refused service by most stores, so he also understood hunger very well. He knew it was their petty method of trying to kill him off. The vast majority of those with anything left to lose didn't dare use violence so they used corporate neglect.

He rubbed his face to chase away those dark thoughts. Nothing good would come from focusing on it. Memories led to frustration, frustration led to hate, hate led to brooding and brooding was the path to being Sasuke.

"Why don't you just kill Gatou?" the brooding menace in question asked patronizingly, "I mean, you all sound pretty pathetic if you'll just lie down and let him do whatever he wants."

"The Daimyo can't afford to maintain an army without any revenue to pay them. It would be a bloodbath with that vast majority of casualties on the side of the people. This is about the land to him, not the people. He just wants Nami no Kuni for its vital location as a trade hotspot for the entire North Sea shipping industry. The people here are merely an annoyance as far as he's concerned," Tazuna said, "If we ever made an attack against him he'd order his mercenaries out and they'd kill everyone who made any sort of resistance and brutalize the rest."

"Then why hire us? Aren't you worried about him attacking because we're here?" Sasuke asked.

Tazuna's lips pressed into a thin line before his mouth opened but Kakashi cut open before he could speak.

"Gatou won't risk sending his own men against us. It would open him up as a legitimate target for assassination even though we don't have an existing contract on him. His only recourse is to use nukenin. There is no way to formally prove he's employed them. As long as we're alive and present, he can't make any attacks for fear that it would draw us into the conflict. If that happened I'd have full cause to kill him." Kakashi said as his eyes flashed in a scary way for a moment.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he eyed the side of the path they were taking, not particularly pleased at his words being shot down.

"Hey Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, breaking the uncharacteristic silent funk she'd been in for nearly the entire afternoon, "Do you think we'll be able to get Tazuna there without any more problems?"

Sasuke didn't even grunt a response. He just kept walking straight ahead. Kakashi wondered how Sakura would react when she heard that they'd be staying to guard Tazuna until the bridge was completed.

They were nearing where the bridge to the next island where Tazuna's home was located when Naruto suddenly froze in place, his eyes focused on a distant point none of them could see.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto he whispered while tapping his sensei on the arm, "You told me to tell you if I saw any more people wearing Kirigakure headbands with the weird slash through them, right?"

Kakashi nodded as he waited expectantly for him to continue.

"Well, there's a guy with a really huge sword hidden in the bushes about a quarter mile ahead," Naruto said as his eyes flicked further up the path.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed when Naruto's words confirmed what he'd been dreading. It was annoying being right so often.

'I guess that means I'll be facing Zabuza directly this time,' he mused, a bit uneasy about the prospect of that in this situation.

"Umm, there's also someone else," Naruto unexpectedly continued and Kakashi's eyebrow went up. He didn't expect Zabuza to have anyone working with him on a given, as he was an expert in silent killing and preferred solo operation according to all of the profiles Kakashi had ever read.

"But they're not wearing a headband, it's a funky mask, and it doesn't have a slash on the Kirigakure symbol," he said as he eyed the really pretty girl in the tree who was watching Zabuza. His eyes widened when he realized what he was looking it.

'It's a travesty!' Naruto screamed mentally in horror, 'It's a crime for anyone that pretty to… bind such huge boobs up! How in the world do they fit in that wrapping? They're as big as the ones in the Casino with the pig!'

Kakashi's thoughts were running along a far more serious vein.

'A hunter ninja complicates things,' he thought, 'He's probably looking for a clear instant kill opening. Against an opponent like Zabuza not many hunter ninja would have a chance without him being severely weakened. No Hunter ninja would dare start a war with Konoha by attacking us unprovoked, not with how weak Kirigakure is right now, so all I have to do is get Zabuza to a weak enough point where the hunter ninja can move in and we'll be free to complete the mission. If I do manage to straight out kill him it could pose some problems too, because his corpse would be too valuable to let go without analysis if Konoha had legal claim to it, which the hunter ninja would never allow. Crap.'

"Alright, I want you all to act casual as we approach. When I give the warning duck flat as quickly as you can," Kakashi whispered softly as he exerted the water manipulation he'd developed in his late teens to produce enough water natured chakra to use the Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu [Art of the Water Clone] without a natural water source. Water appeared to manifest from dry ground not far into the tree line and bubbled up like a spring until five copies of Kakashi stood there. There was the barest stutter-step in his gait as a clone was swapped into his position and he began moving silently from the shadows toward his objective while mentally controlling the group of clones as he moved along.

Naruto was glad he was wearing his facial mask or his jaw opening slightly in amazement would have given Kakashi's action away. His eyes saw the threads of chakra as Kakashi made hidden hand signs before they collapsed into a seal that seemed to flow sideways and attach to the ground hidden a little ways into the forest before branching out and creating five copies of the jutsu seal he recognized as containing components from the Bunshin no Jutsu, but nothing like the Kage Bunshin.

The seals that had appeared around the center sigil which contained a large Kanji ideogram for 'water' seemed to form tiny springs that the jutsu seals that he was pretty sure were for the actual seemed to stretch out and upward as the water filled them and formed into copies of Kakashi. The only thing that betrayed Kakashi's Kawarimi was that moments later only four of them had the jutsu seal marks on them, and the fifth was now walking behind him. The real Kakashi was moving alongside the water clones through the forest.

They were nearly past the creepy eyebrowless freak, which Naruto had mentally titled 'The Anti-Gai' when Kakashi shouted for them to drop low and pulled Naruto down, Sasuke pulled Tazuna down and Sakura dropped flat. Naruto's eyes widened as the huge sword the guy had been carrying embedded into a tree on the opposite side of the path. Naruto frowned beneath his mask, grateful he kept the frown from spreading to his eyes and giving away his realization as he noticed that the man was covered in the same jutsu seals that Kakashi's clones were. The real Anti-Gai seemed to have simply disappeared which both worried him and confused him as he was certain that his eyes should be able to see him if he was anywhere near.

"Alright, if it isn't Kirigakure's own nukenin, Momochi Zabuza of the Seven Swordsmen," Kakashi's Mizu Bunshin drawled with a smirk as it looked up at the man standing on the blade of the sword embedded into the tree.

Naruto glanced at where Kakashi had been earlier and nearly freaked out when he found that he was no longer visible, gone just as completely as Zabuza was. He did however see several other water copies of Zabuza moving around. Kakashi's clone threw a smile at Sasuke who seemed to be quivering with excitement for the fight and his legs were bunching beneath him to attack.

"Leave this to me. This guy is on a whole other level," Kakashi's clone said cheerily, "This fight will be a little difficult unless I do this…"

Kakashi reached up to his headband and prepared to lift it and display the freaky looking eye that hid beneath. Naruto had always wondered about what the hell it was. The only difference was that this one didn't have the crazy number of superimposed seal concept-images overlapping it. It was just another part of the clone, a façade.

"You must be Sharingan Kakashi," Zabuza said as his lips spread to bare his teeth in a rictus of humorless mirth. Naruto stared straight ahead at it, but shifted his focus around without physically moving his eyes, a difficult task to accomplish mentally after so many years getting used to having to turn in order to watch something. Several of Zabuza's clones were setting traps in the nearby trees.

While his watery copies were at work Zabuza's actual body had reappeared out of the ground and then disappeared save for the faint chakra silhouette and inner coils that gave away his presence underneath the Kakuremino no Jutsu [Cloak of Invisibility Art]. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that he hadn't ever focused on looking _beneath_. Even though he knew sensei had defeated Sasuke from underground in their genin test he had never thought about the possibility of such an attack since.

It took some effort to convince his mind that it was even possible to look inside the ground and eventually he managed to pick out a clone moving through the earth which just seemed to flow out of its way to emerge near where Zabuza had emerged. This clone wasn't the water type and was very familiar to Naruto, a Kage Bunshin. That meant that he still hadn't been able to locate the real Kakashi!

He was so intent on the unseen battle that he barely heard the conversation going on around him.

"I'm sorry, but that old man is mine," fake Anti-Gai said flatly, as though reading a script.

"Surround and protect Tazuna-san," Kakashi's Mizu Bunshin said with a smile, "And no matter what, don't enter the fight. That's the teamwork here."

Sasuke scowled at that while Kakashi's Mizu Bunshin raised its headband up to bare his freaky eye completely, "Zabuza, first… fight me!"

Naruto watched with awe as Kakashi's kage bunshin hidden in the woods performed a jutsu so fast that the strings emerging from his hands seemed to blur into a huge tangle he couldn't unravel or track and the ground around him was blanketed in poison gas that swept around him and covered where Zabuza was hiding.

"Ahh, so I get to see the famous Sharingan already? I'm honored," Zabuza asked as the real him remained motionless and un-breathing in the cloud of poison Kakashi's clone had spewed before one of Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin slipped into the dark cloud and managed to cut Kakashi's kage bunshin down before it was even aware of the presence of Zabuza's clone.

He felt Sasuke tense beside him and that drew him away from the pitched but silent battle going on just out of view.

"How does he have the Sharingan?" Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"What exactly is the Sharingan?" Naruto questioned as it became apparent that the real fight hadn't begun yet and their clones were just posturing until one of them could get enough of an advantage to move in, or Zabuza decided to bring the focus of battle straight to Tazuna rather than trying to take Kakashi out beforehand.

"There are certain people with unique eyes that are capable of reading and defeating all Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu. The Sharingan is one of those eyes that have such a technique inherently a part of it. It's the most powerful doujutsu [eye technique] in the world," Sasuke said softly.

Naruto was actually listening to the explanation and lost track of what was going on in the background, as he still hadn't located Kakashi.

"That's not all though," Sasuke said and Zabuza snorted.

"Of course it isn't. The Sharingan also allows you to copy your enemy's techniques after only seeing them once," Zabuza said, "When I was a member of Kirigakure's Ansatsu [Assassination] team I read your entry in the bingo book. CopyCat Kakashi, a technician who has copied over a thousand techniques."

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt the tension shift suddenly and saw Zabuza break his genjutsu and switch himself with a Mizu Bunshin before heading toward the expanse of water between this and the island Tazuna called home.

"Let's end this useless chatter," Zabuza's clone said, "Before I can kill that old man, I have to kill you first."

Naruto felt a genjutsu settle over their group and saw the chakra silhouette of Zabuza land on the surface of the water, before a Kawarimi with the clone standing on his sword which was buried into the tree occurred. Kakashi-sensei immediately swapped places with him as well and Naruto gulped as he saw Zabuza appear in the path of an already activated trap, with dozens of kunai inches from his body. He nearly pissed himself when Zabuza's body simply blurred while seizing a kunai and throwing it through Kakashi's kage bunshin and dispelling it as the genjutsu fell.

To his normal vision instead of the strange overlay the changes in his eyes had wrought, the genjutsu showed Zabuza's clone seeming to seize his sword and in a burst of superhuman speed appear on top of the water with a hand in the air and a hand in front of his chest.

Naruto saw the uninjured Zabuza make a single one handed seal from the trees while his clone called out, "Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu [Ninja art: Art of the Hidden Mists]."

A massive seal bloomed over the entire area and billowing mist emerged from it before it faded, choking the entire battlefield. He could still see through it, but it made it as hard to focus on things or notice movement as it was when he was looking through the ground.

"He's gone!" Sakura squeaked.

Naruto didn't even hear the next words. His mind had gone off the rails in awe as the intensity of the fight went through the roof as Zabuza seemed trying to work his way toward Tazuna and Kakashi was heading him off. Zabuza suddenly disappeared again but Naruto found him hidden once more in the earth and moving toward their location fast. He seemed to be spraying chakra from himself like some sort of invisible mist that moved toward their location. Naruto had no clue what it was until it arrived and his breath hitched in his throat.

It was as though the chakra itself were imbued with Zabuza's emotions. Naruto had never felt any chakra but his own, but suddenly being exposed to another person's ambient chakra filled with so much malice and desire to kill was suffocating. He could hear Sasuke's knees shaking beside him in terror. The only reason he wasn't scared senseless was because he saw a kage bunshin of Kakashi between Zabuza and himself underground, with three others surrounding them on the other sides in order to form a protective box formation, but even with that comfort it was still hard to catch his breath and he could hear his blood pounding in his ears.

Kakashi seemed to have noticed Sasuke through his clone, which made Naruto's eyebrows rise, as it seemed that his Sensei must be able to 'see' through the eyes of his Mizu Bunshin.

"Sasuke, don't worry," Kakashi said, "I'll protect you guys, even if it kills me."

His head turned toward them, displaying for the first time both of his eyes in Kakashi's signature upturned 'U' smiling eyes, "I don't let my comrades die."

That statement seemed to be the trigger for the fight to step into high gear and the underground Zabuza made a hand seal and a Mizu Bunshin arose in their midst with a cry of, "We'll see about that!" as his blade lashed out in a deadly arc.

Kakashi's Mizu Bunshin knocked them back as it slid in past the blade to plunge a kunai into the Mizu Bunshin's chest. 'Zabuza' disappeared in a spray of water as another Mizu Bunshin Naruto hadn't noticed in the distracting Mist slid in behind Kakashi with a swing of his sword and Kakashi's Mizu Bunshin disappeared with a splash.

One of Kakashi's earlier Mizu Bunshin was already behind it with a kunai to its neck.

"Don't move, it's over," Kakashi's clone said and Naruto frowned before he felt a nearly imperceptible tremor beneath his feet and watched one of the four kage bunshin underground use the Kawarimi with the Mizu Bunshin above ground and made fake hand seals without any chakra coming out an instant before placing a kunai to the neck of his Mizu Bunshin. The lower kage bunshin dispelled with a pop, one of them with their hands held in a final hand seal for an unrecognizable jutsu that was identical to those the one above ground was making and Zabuza's eyes flew wide open as he burst from the ground as fast as he could, as though Kakashi had just launched a potentially lethal attack.

"Your monkey mimicry isn't enough to beat the real thing," Zabuza's clone said, "But that was impressive. You had already managed to copy my Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu and switch out so the real you could hide in the mists and watch me. A brilliant endgame strategy, but…"

"I'm not that easy," the real Zabuza said making his first actual appearance directly behind Kakashi. It was at that time Naruto realized that the weird eye of Kakashi's Kage Bunshin had the crazy huge set of seals embedded in it and was leaking chakra at an alarming rate. Kakashi's Kage Bunshin spun and the next moves were too fast for Naruto to track, but they ended up with Kakashi's kage bunshin flying into the nearby body of water and Zabuza standing in a field of caltrops [tiny four pointed spikes designed so that one side is always pointing upward no matter how they land] to slow him down.

Naruto saw Zabuza's hands blur before the most amazing thing ever occurred. His eyes barely caught the spikes of chakra that traveled like lightning through Zabuza's muscles, just as brief and just as blindingly intense as he shot forward so fast he entirely disappeared until he came to rest standing on the water behind Kakashi's shadow clone, already with his hands in the final hand seal of a jutsu.

"Foolish idiot," Zabuza said, "Suirou no Jutsu [Water Prison Art]."

The water seemed to flow around Kakashi's clone and cut off its ability to move before suspending it in a floating sphere of water.

"You may have been trying to flee into the water, but that was your error Kakashi," Zabuza gloated as Kakashi clamped his spinning Sharingan eye closed and looked at the hand Zabuza had inside the globe of water, holding it up, "The reason the water is too heavy for you to move is because it's my own specialized inescapable prison. Now I just have to finish up here."

Zabuza's heart rate decreased as the signs of stress faded, making it obvious he believed the fight was already over, "Now to clean up."

He made a one handed seal and Naruto watched in amazement as the strings looped around and in a complex fashion to form the basic shape of the Mizu Bunshin seal, but using only one hand and a crazy amount of chakra control to do so before it collapsed into the actual jutsu seal and a Mizu Bunshin arose from knee deep in the water before stepping out onto the land.

"You guys wear forehead protectors and act as though you're real ninja," Zabuza said with a smirk, "But you're just playing ninja, just civilians with bigger egos. You aren't a real ninja until you've survived death so many times you've lost count. When you're good enough to show up in the bingo book as a real threat, then you're a real ninja."

Naruto notice Zabuza making subtle one hand seals out of the corner of his eye and the Mizu Bunshin just seemed to disappear from his normal vision, but the concept-image seal of it still hung there in his enhanced sight as the Mizu Bunshin dashed toward him. Zabuza's genjutsu dropped as the Mizu Bunshin moved to launch a kick at him but Naruto was already using the strength method and the movement was only a little bit faster than Naruto was without using the strength method to gain double his original speed. Naruto actually managed to slip around it and hamstring the clone, dispelling it.

"Oh… white eye… so you have a main house Hyuuga on your team," Zabuza said with a grin, "I've hit the jackpot. Kumo will pay 30,000,000 ryo for the unsealed body of a Byakugan carrier."

"You guys! Take Tazuna and run away! The Mizu Bunshin can't move very far away from the original body!" Kakashi's clone shouted from within the water prison.

Naruto's eyes widened as he finally spotted the real Kakashi, hidden underneath the silt in the lake, directly below Zabuza.

"Let's go," Naruto said, "We can't win!"

"What are you? A coward?" Sasuke hissed, "We can't leave Kakashi-sensei behind."

"You don't understand Sasuke, let's just go," Naruto said.

"Feh, you're worse than trash," Sasuke sneered and pulled a massive shuriken from his pack before whipping it at Zabuza with as much strength as he could manage in hopes of forcing him to release the water prison. Ice went through his veins when Zabuza caught the giant shuriken with a derisive snort and threw it back at Sasuke so fast it blurred. Naruto cursed as Kakashi was forced to burst up from the silt beneath the water and throw a lightning fast kunai at Zabuza's back before he made the same handseal set Zabuza made for his body flicker and appeared in front of Sasuke to catch the shuriken before it struck.

"I told you to go damn it, why can't you follow orders!" Kakashi growled in frustration.

"Fuck!" Zabuza shouted as he released the water prison as though it were scalding hot and shoved his massive cleaver through the kage bunshin within as it released. Kakashi was already out on the water again with his Sharingan spinning.

"I guess this really is endgame now," Zabuza said with a laugh, "Funny how it all works. I've still got plenty of power. One fuck up Kakashi, just one, and I have myself a 500,000,000 ryo bounty on you, the value of an unmarked Hyuuga corpse and the payment for this mission. I'm inches away from realizing my dreams."

Naruto was unsure of how it would play out, but Zabuza's back was turned so he wanted to stack the odds in his sensei's favor. He made a kage bunshin in the bushes which used the Henge to become a falcon and take wing, intending to attempt to gouge out Zabuza's eyes as a distraction for Kakashi's finishing moves. He was so focused on his clone that when it suddenly dispelled he was confused and glanced around but couldn't figure out how it had ceased to be. His eyes flickered to the fight below just as a huge wave of water crashed into Zabuza, slamming him onto shore and into trees with the sound of limbs and ribs breaking.

Kakashi was already in the tree above where he'd landed and had thrown half a brace of kunai into Zabuza's limbs to make sure they were out for the count.

"How?" Zabuza gasped out, "Can you see the future?"

"Yes… and you're going to die," Kakashi said as he drew back his kunai the bury it in his skull in a coup-de-grace, hoping the hunter ninja would intervene before this turned into a body dispute. He wasn't disappointed as several senbon pierced into Zabuza's neck and he collapsed to the ground. Kakashi dropped down and checked his pulse before letting out a deep relieved breath when he felt nothing.

"Haha, you're right, he is dead," a young voice called from the branches of the tree above, "Thank you very much. I've been waiting for the opportunity to kill him for a long time."

"You're a member of the Kirigakure Hunter ninja teams, right?" Kakashi said.

"You are correct," the hunter ninja girl with the most incredible breasts that just yearned to be free said. The fact that she was a hunter ninja already and he was just a genin though they were the same age wasn't too foreign of a concept to him. He was used to being the weakest in the group he was a part of, so there was no real surprise in someone his age, fourteen, rather than just twelve year olds like Sasuke and Sakura, already rising far past him.

The hunter kunoichi used the same jutsu Kakashi and Zabuza had and blurred into place next to Zabuza, sending leaves spiraling around her from her rapid arrival.

"I must go dispose of the body now, as his is one filled with many secrets, farewell," the girl said as she picked up the body and disappeared with another repetition of the same technique, moving so far in one single flash that she was outside of Naruto's range of vision.

Kakashi groaned as he pulled his headband down over his eye, "Well, now we just have to get Tazuna ho…"

His final words were cut off by the chakra exhaustion cutting off his coordination and he tumbled to the ground and his world faded into darkness.

* * *

[AN] Here I go making authors notes again. For those of you who are concerned about running to close to canon, I will be following certain arbitrary evens, and the components of canon that help me move the story to its destination and unveil the things I want to. However I intend to cover the time _not_ covered in canon just as thoroughly, meaning you should be getting long stretches of original content, then a few bursts of semi-canon. Some things will be eerily similar, but the majority of it should be fresh.

As for the fight in this chapter, it's viewed through Naruto's veiwpoint, and though he has a full range of penetrative vision his mind can only grasp a small portion of the fight at once. This means a lot of the things he sees are incomplete and somewhat choppy.


	6. Chapter 6

[AN] I figured I would address some of your wonderful reviews briefly, as I don't like to talk much in notes. Stay tuned after the show for those comments.

* * *

Naruto's feet banged on the edge of the floor as his feet dangled over the edge. Tazuna's house was really cool. It was built in a very open fashion, save for a few closed rooms like the bathroom and bedrooms. The second floor was like a big balcony with a hole in the center that let you see down into the ground floor and Naruto's heels were banging on the edge of the overhang as he kicked them out and let them thump back in boredom.

"Hey! I think he's waking up!" Sakura called out and Naruto turned his head.

Sure enough Kakashi was groaning as his eyes opened.

"Are you alright?" a dark haired woman with decent boobs, nothing amazing but still fairly nice, asked. She was Tazuna's daughter, in her late twenties and had an eight year old brat who had run into his room the minute they showed up.

Kakashi groaned, "Ugh. Alright, yeah. I went a little too far against Zabuza and went past the limit into complete exhaustion," Kakashi said with a frown, "It will probably be a week before I'm back up to full strength. The Sharingan isn't native to my body so it had a heavy drain on me."

Naruto noticed he didn't mention the long fight that occurred before the visible fight even really began in force, plus whatever he had done at the end. Any jutsu to move that much water must have been exhausting. Naruto noticed that Sasuke's hands had clenched on the windowsill he was leaning against as his gaze at Kakashi-sensei turned into a brooding glare.

"Wow," Sakura said, "The Sharingan is incredible, but if it puts such a strain on you it must be dangerous."

"Sensei," Sasuke said, finally deciding to speak, "Who was that masked hunter ninja and why were they close to our age?"

Kakashi gave a small smile, "Sasuke, there are kids in this world that are probably younger than you, but even stronger than me. That's the thing about the shinobi world, oftentimes appearances are deceiving and it's the ones you think the least of that you should fear the most," he said as his head turned to the side to watch his student. He didn't fail to notice the way his eyes flickered over to where Naruto was sitting, looking down into the first floor still, before his face darkened even further. That was a bit concerning.

"The hunter ninja squadrons are the advanced members of the body erasers every ninja village has. While they still have the duties as an eraser to properly dispose of a body, they're also tasked with the sole purpose of tracking down the nukenin who would pose the greatest risk to a village. They're instructed to make a kill if the target is distracted enough, or to steal a kill from another so that Kirigakure has legal rights to the body," Kakashi said, "That's why he stepped in to kill Zabuza before I could land the finishing blow."

Sasuke frowned, "What sort of secrets can a body contain and why didn't you finish him to take those secrets for Konoha? That boy couldn't have been that strong if he had to sneak around like Naruto and wait for an opening after he'd already been beaten," he said with a frown.

Kakashi weakly raised his hand and coughed into it, "Every jutsu a ninja has ever used becomes imprinted on their body and any Body Reader or Eraser can reveal those jutsu if they have enough time to do so. For instance if I died, all of the jutsu my body contained could be revealed, as well as the secrets of the Sharingan," Kakashi said, "That's why it's vital to take the hands, heart and head and burn the rest of any dead ninja if you can't get their body back to Konoha. A foreign reader could use the data they found in my body, from my own personal developments, to jutsu I've mastered from many different villages, as well as puzzling out the Sharingan for themselves."

"Then why'd you let Zabuza's body go?!" Sasuke asked in disbelief.

"Because I was already weakened and starting a body dispute with a hunter nin from one of the other great nations would not have ended well at all," Kakashi said, "I didn't want to turn this into an international incident with myself too weakened to force the issue, so I let the hunter ninja finish him and claim the body rights."

Sasuke frowned and turned to gaze out the window while a strange expression flickered over Kakashi's face, "There was something wrong about the whole situation though," Kakashi muttered before yawning widely, "I think… I need to… nap some more."

He was out like a light before anyone could ask another question.

* * *

The hunter ninja stripped off her mask revealing the pretty face of the girl who had been at Zabuza's right when Gatou had confronted him over their last failure. She pulled out a kunai and moved to cut the bandages over his mouth so he'd be able to breathe better when Zabuza's hand shot out and caught her wrist.

"It's fine," Zabuza said in a raspy voice as his bloodshot eyes opened, "I can get it."

He tugged down his bandages and took several deep and shuddering breaths. He reached up and yanked the senbon from his neck one at a time, "Damn, you were intentionally being rough with those. Did I do something to piss you off?"

Haku giggled, "You ripping them out like that is even rougher. Are you trying to kill yourself?" she asked with a smug smile.

"Ugh," Zabuza replied as she moved to his wounds and ran her hands over them the rest of the way, closing off the wounds from where the kunai had entered them and Zabuza winced as broken bones knit back together. He knew she was pissed at him for some reason, considering she'd always been a lot more gentle with healing him.

"Yes, I'm upset with you! What were you thinking?" Haku said with a sigh, "You were far too quick to show yourself! Do you think Sharingan Kakashi would just come out in the open like that unless he absolutely had to?"

Zabuza growled, "Well I did get him out in the open," he said with a grunt, "That freaky eye really pisses me off."

"You were too washed out by that point from maintaining the Suirou [Water Prison] to notice what he was doing," Haku said with a scowl, "And his team didn't get into the fight."

"What the hell was he doing then? How'd he know what I was going to do before I did?" Zabuza grunted, the pall of chakra exhaustion, only made worse by the way his chakra flow had been temporarily cut off as though he were dead weighing his body down and fogging his mind.

"IT was a genjutsu. He was implanting suggestions in your mind as to what jutsu to perform and using ones he'd already mastered to do so," Haku grumbled, "You didn't even notice that his team was more than they seemed, just because Kakashi ordered them out of the fight."

Zabuza quirked an eyebrow, "Oh?" he mumbled as he yawned, "I guess it makes sense with a group an elite would accept. What did you see?"

"None of the others but the blond who is about my age, made any move to interfere before Kakashi showed up. Perhaps he was concealing a chuunin flak jacket beneath his armor? He seemed to know when the real one emerged and created a clone that could use chakra, like the ones Kakashi used," Haku said with a sigh, "It used the Henge to become a falcon and was moving into the air and about to stoop on you while you were trying to complete your Suiryudan no jutsu [Art of the Water Dragon Missile]. I was forced to dispel it and had he noticed I was the source of the action our game would have been up. The other ones didn't even get involved, but we can only assume that they hold some talent."

Zabuza grunted in frustration, "Then when we meet next, you'll have to keep them occupied until I can defeat the Sharingan," he said before giving another yawn and his body began to sag.

Haku scooped him up and disappeared in a whirl of dust from her passing.

* * *

Kakashi's eyes flew open from his dead sleep as his dream woke him.

"That's it!" he shouted, terrifying the three genin who were leaning over him, preparing to shake him awake for the breakfast Tsunami was finishing preparing, it's scent penetrating the entire home.

"I know why the whole situation was bothering me," Kakashi said with a dark look, "Hunter ninja always dispose of the body on the spot, to reduce the risk of interception and loss of the body, as well as increase the odds of retrieval of personal jutsu for use by the village before the imprints can decay. That ninja took Zabuza's body rather than disposing of it on the spot."

"Wha?" Naruto asked while scratching his head.

"It means that… that hunter ninja was likely working with Zabuza. The senbon needles he used, unless they're thrown with unerring accuracy are very unlikely to cause an instant kill," Kakashi said, "But they're also capable of penetrating acupuncture points to cause certain effects on the body, or in this case they're capable of inflicting a temporary death. It was why the hunter ninja seemed to be rushing to get away. Zabuza is most likely still alive."

"WHAT?!" Sakura shouted and Kakashi groaned at the loud noise.

"I made a clone and used the Henge to change it into a falcon so I could distract him from your attack," Naruto said quietly, "It suddenly dispelled and I couldn't figure out why."

Kakashi sighed, "That makes it nearly certain then," he said with a frown, "There's also the possibility that with the failure of the Demon Brothers and Zabuza, Gatou has lost his patience and will hire another group or find some other way to reach a resolution to the problem."

He levered himself up into a sitting position, "There's no choice left but to prepare for the worst," Kakashi said with a frown, "I need to train you three up as much as possible in preparation for this while my strength recovers. Zabuza was likely running low on chakra, and having your chakra flow stopped like that to induce a momentary death causes exhaustion effects similar to what I'm suffering. He will likely recover at the same time I do. Hopefully Gatou won't act immediately using another method. It will probably take time to find another group of nukenin, but there's no way to be certain."

"But sensei, how can we prepare enough? Zabuza was strong enough that you had trouble, even with the power of the Sharingan," Sakura protested, "And there's a hunter ninja working with him!"

"I don't think you three realize just how much you've grown. Sasuke's quick actions against the Demon Brothers, the traps Naruto laid for them, your instantaneous reaction to guard Tazuna," Kakashi said as his eye turned up in a smile, "You've all grown a lot, though Naruto seems to be making the greatest strides in order to catch up."

Naruto gave a huge grin before frowning as he realized that his sensei's words meant that he was still behind. Sakura glanced over at him with a slight frown.

'He did help finish off the Demon Brothers, even if Sasuke-kun already hurt them, but he's still really weak, especially when compared to Sasuke-kun,' she admitted to herself slowly.

Tsunami's boy emerged from the stairs leading up to the second floor.

"Kaasan [momma], breakfast is almost done," Inari said as he entered and saw his mother holding a cup of medicinal tea for Kakashi.

"Inari, don't ignore our guests, say hello. They're the ninja who protected grandpa," Tsunami said with a smile at him.

Inari folded his arms and scowled, "Why does it matter? They're just gonna die anyway," he said angrily.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, "Who do you think you are? We're ninja! Don't worry about them, I'm a super-strong ninja who's gonna be Hokage some day, so there's no way we'll lose!"

He gave Inari a huge grin.

"What are you? Stupid? Unless you're stupid enough that you can't tell when you're gonna die you should leave. Nobody can beat Gatou," he said before storming back downstairs.

Naruto's fists clenched as he got ready to chase him down the stairs before he frowned. He really had no idea what to say. Zabuza was so much more powerful than he was, and he had a hunter ninja working with him and from what Kakashi said they had to be pretty strong too. Even he wasn't sure how they would win.

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked while Tsunami handed over the tea with an apologetic look, "What sort of training will we be doing?"

"That's easy, you two will be tree climbing," Kakashi said, "It will build up your chakra control and reserves. As for Naruto, well he'll have to catch up with you later; I have other remedial training he needs. It's something more suited to his 'special needs'."

Sasuke snickered at Naruto, whose face was turning beat red.

"But Kakashi-sensei! I can already…"

"Trust me Naruto; I know how to help you. Besides, if you'll work hard on this I promise I'll give you a pointer or two on Fuuinjutsu since you're determined to learn it," Kakashi said.

The mention of fuuinjutsu brought another snicker from Sasuke. He'd seen Naruto's stupid storage scrolls. They really didn't seem that useful to him, except for maybe carrying more clothes or junk like Naruto did. It wasn't something of any real use to a ninja.

Kakashi's offer was enough to make Naruto forget the urge to brag or protest the 'special needs' comment. The chance to actually get someone's help with his fuuinjutsu was something he was dying for. He was having trouble figuring most of it out still.

Naruto was scowling at the way sensei always cut him off when he was about to retort against Sasuke's mocking for not being ready for the tree climbing training, and rub the bastard's nose in the fact that he'd learned it almost a month ago. Kakashi-sensei had finally dragged him away to a separate location and was standing there on crutches grinning at him.

"Now Naruto," Kakashi said, "The reason I didn't include you in the tree climbing exercise was because you wouldn't get any benefit out of it. It will make Sasuke and Sakura stronger than they already are, but you've already gotten all of the benefit you can out of it, and Sasuke is still better than you."

Naruto winced as he realized that Kakashi had been keeping him from looking like an idiot and felt grateful for his Sensei's consideration.

"Now I'm sure you have exercises Gai wanted you to work on, so I want you to spend your time with that," Kakashi said, "But I'll give you a few hints too."

Naruto's face lit up at that.

"Your eyes work similar to my Sharingan, but differently, however they both share one important component," Kakashi said with a smile, "While your eyes don't take photographic images, which means you can't track the hand seals made in jutsu, you can still see the Fuuin that mark them when they're active."

"Yeah? So how does that help?" Naruto asked.

"Well, if you get a really good look at the layout and the jumon," Kakashi said, "You can piece together how to perform them using Fuuin alone. Did you manage to see any techniques closely in the last fight?"

"Umm, the Mizu Bunshin thing, and the Suirou no Jutsu," Naruto said slowly.

"Well that's good," Kakashi said, "The Mizu Bunshin does have weaknesses though. They don't have a chakra system of their own like Kage Bunshin. That means they can't even use the strength method, or perform jutsu. However they do let your mind receive input from them and control them in real time, rather than them acting independently like kage bunshin."

"Huh," Naruto said in amazement.

"Yes, it's pretty neat," Kakashi said, "And the Suirou makes a good capture technique from what I saw."

Naruto nodded rapidly.

"You should try to create a Fuuin scroll that has the Suirou on it. The Mizu Bunshin's seal array is too big to fit on a scroll without becoming unwieldy, even if you know some of the highest level seal condensing techniques," Kakashi said sadly.

"So I just have to figure out how to get the Suirou seal right and I can use a scroll to perform it, like with an exploding tag?" Naruto asked in shock and Kakashi nodded.

"It's easier to destroy a scroll and interrupt a jutsu like that while it's in effect, but with a capture technique like the Suirou, they're too trapped to destroy the scroll and escape without help," Kakashi said, "However, because you haven't trained any existing elemental manipulations, or developed others if your natural one isn't water, you'll need an ambient source of the element in a large enough quantity to perform the jutsu."

"Manipulation?" Naruto asked, "How do you manipulate an element? It's not like it's a person you can give puppy dog eyes to."

Kakashi groaned, "Let's just say it's a chuunin level ability that you're not ready for yet. All you need to know is that without an ambient source of an element in its raw unbound form you can't perform an elemental technique unless you can produce that elemental natured chakra, like water chakra for the Suirou no jutsu," Kakashi said.

"That's why Zabuza was always close to water when he used his water techniques!" Naruto said as surprise dawned on him, "But you must have that manipulation because you made it without using outside elements."

Kakashi nodded, "Nearly all Kirigakure ninja use water techniques heavily, as even without a manipulation, in their country water is very plentiful," Kakashi said, "But I've spent a lot of time training to gain multiple manipulations."

"So I just need enough water to use it… but what if there isn't any water around?" Naruto asked and Kakashi grinned.

"I'll let you figure that part out on your own. I'll just say that you already know the solution," Kakashi said before turning and walking off.

"Hey! Not fair!" Naruto shouted, "You told Sasuke and Sakura how to climb trees!"

He grunted as Kakashi ignored him before starting to stretch out and begin working on Gai-sensei's exercises for starting to use the speed method while trying to remember everything he saw about the Suirou's Fuuin array. He'd managed to get a pretty close look at it during the fight, but it was really hard to remember all of the stupid little details the next day.

* * *

Haku was sitting, wringing her hands as she watched the steady rise and fall of Zabuza's chest when the doors to the room opened and her head snapped around. Her pupils widened for a second as she saw Gatou, but more importantly the two men beside him. She recognized them instantly.

The taller of the two was bare chested with his signature eye patch. Strangely though the barbed wire tattoo trailing up his left arm had been joined by another pair of tattoos since the last time she had encountered him. He now wore a stylized tattoo of a cloud wrapping outward across the left side of his chest, with a solar symbol beneath it, both done in red ink.

The last time he had seen Gajin no Waraji [Waraji the Barbarian] had been when he had dishonored himself by stabbing the daimyo he had served in Mizu no Kuni from behind during a peace negotiation with the Mizukage and his pet daimyo. That had been the trigger for Zabuza-sama's attempted assassination, using the opening the chaos of Waraji's betrayal caused to hopefully bring down the Mizukage, though the attempt had failed disastrously.

The other she knew only by the moniker Zouri, and had encountered him while he was slaughtering another nukenin and taking his head. Her advanced speed had outmatched him then by a small amount, but he was a mercenary and had probably grown more in that department than she had in the meantime. Zouri had been Gatou's body guard for quite some time, which meant that Waraji had to be one of the new mercenaries Gatou had been speaking of, but she couldn't wrap her head around what sort of mercenary group would admit people like Waraji into its ranks.

"So even the great Zabuza crawls back with his tail between his legs," Gatou sneered, "It seems Kiri ninja are far more pathetic than I thought."

One of Zabuza's eyes cracked open.

"You can't even avenge the men you lost. You're a joke," Gatou said and Zabuza's silence filled the room.

Gatou glared at him and stepped forward, "Are you trying to insult me by refusing to respond?" he hissed as his hand reached out toward Zabuza before he felt pain lance up his arm and heard the sound of bones cracking as Haku's hand wrapped around his wrist in a vice-like grip.

"You are not to touch Zabuza-san's beautiful body with your filthy hands," she hissed as she twisted just enough to make Gatou scream. She heard the click of the mercenary pair's swords emerging from their scabbards and blurred as her muscles screamed in pain and she gritted her teeth from pushing them beyond the safe point as she amped up her speed to end behind them, holding their swords crossed before her at each other's necks.

"Don't test my patience," she hissed, "I'm very irritable right now."

Zouri's face twisted into a grimace and Gatou paled. She realized Waraji was just looking at her with faint amusement before he flexed his wrist briefly to let her know whose sword she was holding.

"One more attempt, that's all I'll allow an incompetent," Gatou growled through teeth gritted against the pain, "Don't fail me again."

Haku released the pair of swords and stepped away as Gatou left the room cradling his wrist with the pair following him, tossing a final glance over their shoulders before the doors closed.

"You didn't have to do that," Zabuza said, "I could have dealt with him myself."

"I know Zabuza-sama… but I'm so frustrated," Haku said in a petulant voice, "It's so hard watching you lay here and knowing I can't go after the one who did it."

Zabuza sighed, "Just a little longer Haku," he said, "Just a little longer and all of our dreams can come true."

Haku hung her head, "I don't like this Zabuza-sama. Gatou is an evil man," she said softly, "When we kill the bridge builder it will break the people's spirit. Their faces already remind me of home so much that it hurts."

Zabuza's hand rose up to press his knuckles against her cheek as she closed her eyes with a happy expression on her face.

"I know Haku. That's what I like about you. You're so pure, clever and beautiful," Zabuza said, "Everything I need in an agent. It is why people love you and you can go places where I cannot."

Haku nodded as his hand dropped, "I live to serve you Zabuza-sama, you know that, in any way you wish," she said with a sad smile and Zabuza turned his head to hide his grimace.

"Don't worry Haku," he whispered, "When we are finished here and are paid, I'll kill Gatou so these people won't have to suffer under him more. Cut off the head and the body dies."

Haku gave him a tiny smile as her heart swelled.

"You're a good man Zabuza-sama, even if you hide it," she said before placing a kiss on his forehead, "I'll go get your medicine. I have enough for now but I'll have to get more soon."

Zabuza's head turned back and he watched her leave the room before sighing and covering his face with his hand.

"It hurts," he said with a groan, "Having a weakness like this."

His eyes were glued to the door she'd just left by, "I build up my resolve, and then it crashes down whenever she looks at me like that," he said with a grimace, "She says I'm a good man, but all I do is use her. I'm nearly twice her age, yet I can't say no."

He sighed heavily, "It's… I can't let go of that little piece of heaven. I know I'll never be able to see it myself like she will, but it's so nice," he said before closing his eyes and breathing deeply as he tried to pull his thoughts away from her and his mind soon slipped into restless dreams of being free from his destiny, his duty, and nightmares about losing it all.

* * *

Sasuke sat breathlessly, leaned against the base of the tree and watching the clouds in the sky that were just barely visible through the trees turn red as the red tinted sun laid half set under the rim of the horizon. Sakura had exhausted herself far earlier and gone back to Tazuna's home. It was so frustrating.

"The moron is improving himself and Sakura mastered this so quickly that I was left behind," he growled, "And then she acts all apologetic about it. Ugh."

His head tilted back to look at the slashes on the bark that only made it about a quarter of the distance up the tree.

"At this rate I'll never make it," he whispered into the empty trees, "I need to get stronger."

'There is a scroll hidden under the clan shrine, under the mat,' the mental image of his elder brother said in his mind, 'Read it, and if you still desire vengeance for our clan… live an unseemly life, stay alive, and come for me one day.'

The scroll had cemented his hatred for his brother just as much as the genjutsu he had been placed under, watching his clan slaughtered over and over while Itachi's voice echoed in the background about prices and betrayal, words that his mind couldn't process in the midst of the world of horror he witnessed. The scroll beneath the compound had revealed all of it in his mind.

Itachi had killed Shisui to achieve the next evolution of the Sharingan, the Mangekyo Sharingan [Kaleidoscope Photographic Wheel Eye]. It was why Shisui had been found drowned several days later and his father had seemed so on edge even though it had been ruled a suicide. It was why his father warned him not to follow his brother's path as Itachi spent less and less time amongst the clan and seemed to become more and more emotionless. At meals his face was always completely unreadable, and in the weeks before the massacre he hardly ate at home at all.

He had to die; he had to die for the Uchiha clan to be avenged, to end the one who had betrayed their blood. It was just so hard to see the huge gulf between them, an incomprehensible distance that he wasn't catching up to at all. His brother had been a jounin and a captain in the Anbu by the time he was this age. Sasuke couldn't imagine how much more powerful Itachi had become since he left the village.

He pounded the ground with his fist.

"I need something," he hissed, "Kakashi-sensei is a lazy bastard. This is the first useful training he's given us, and he just took off and didn't come back. How am I supposed to fulfill my destiny, my duty, if he's holding me back?"

He sighed as he stood and brushed the leaves off of him before stomping off in the direction of Tazuna's home.

* * *

Naruto groaned in frustration as the one of the scrolls his clones were working on detonated, a lash of pure energy slashing out of it and slicing clean through a trio of clones. He was lying back against a nearby tree, too sore to keep moving. His muscles burned from all of the mistakes he'd made while practicing the pulse method.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he mumbled, "They're still so far ahead of me. I'm not catching up fast enough. My control still sucks. I can walk fine on flat water, but my clones keep falling into moving water, they just can't keep up with the speed of pulses I need."

He groaned and rubbed the damaged muscles in his thighs.

"I can't get the stupid pulses short enough to keep from hurting me," he grumbled, "And if I just lower the amount I spike to account for the slower pulses I barely get any extra speed. So dumb."

Another clone went up in a sealing accident, this one seeming to cause its body to burst the moment it activated the fuuinjutsu.

"I can't even control my movements at that speed, and it freaking hurts!" he hissed, "It's like I'm destined to be chasing everyone as they walk away my entire life."

His face scrunched up into a grimace, "Screw that! I'll just work even harder and force destiny to do what I want!" he said with a huge grin before his clones started complaining that it was too dark to practice the fuuinjutsu anymore.

"Alright then," Naruto said, "Can one of you help me back to Tazuna's house?"

"Sure boss," one of his less frustrated clones said, "If it means I can live a little longer, anything."

When his clones made comments like that it made his skin crawl. They were just like him in mind and personality, and hearing them talk like that made him feel as though he were killing himself every time they dispelled. No, it made him feel like he was killing his twins every time they dispelled.

"Actually, if you guys want," he said, feeling a bit sympathetic, "You can work on waterwalking in the river, since I've got plenty of extra chakra left over, but only three of you okay? And be sure to dispel within the hour."

His clones bunched together while working out who got to live and who got to die based upon who had worked harder or made more progress in the day before with a sad smile and wave the majority of those who had been working on the relatively low chakra fuuinjutsu practice disappeared one at a time to keep from overloading him, leaving three behind, plus the one who was to help him get back.

"Alright boss," the 'leader' of the three clones that were to continue waterwalking, the one who had made the most progress in terms of the fuuinjutsu project said, "Thanks for this. I guess we'll be seeing you in your mind in an hour."

Naruto waved goodbye as his other clone slung his arm over it's shoulder and began lugging him back toward where there should be a warm meal waiting.

* * *

Naruto yawned as he snuggled his head into the pillow. The tense meal while Inari glared at them only made the washed out feeling of being low on chakra worse. The only bright point had been the look on his clone's face when he had convinced Kakashi-sensei to let it stand guard through the night.

It had thanked him for nearly five minutes after Kakashi agreed. It wasn't like the clones were really human, no matter how much they seemed that way. They were as though they were made in his image, but each one seemed to grasp a certain part of his personality, probably because he wasn't able to push his _entire_ being into each individual clone when he made them. It was just too much concentration to manage to not just grasp all of your own nature, but focus on implanting it into other things.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make a clone that was just like him, with all of his quirks or traits. And when he made a large number at a time, like for fuuinjutsu training, they only had the barest threads of his personality since he just couldn't concentrate on getting each one right. It was like they were crafted in his image, but their fragile shells just weren't enough to make them completely like him.

Even on a physiological level the majority of his kage bunshin didn't need to really breathe, or eat, or sleep. When he made one or two alone maybe one or two of those traits seemed to carry over if he really focused hard on it, but the clone that was on watch was one of the mass produced. It was a bit sad. It was as though he took a tiny bit of himself and gifted it with flesh, molded it from chakra, which Gai-sensei said was the 'breath of life' itself and gave it free will and his memories.

It was just too hard to give each a fully developed personality to start with, but he couldn't help but wonder if they'd grow one if he left one alive for too long. He'd also noticed that the ones who he gave more personality and more physical life to could access more of his chakra than others. The mass produced clones seemed to become sluggish, as though they were suffering from chakra exhaustion, even when he had plenty left, which made it impossible to use them to gauge his own level of exhaustion.

It was like they were just images of a tiny piece of him, living their short lives before they died and their memories flowed back to him, increasing him with their deaths, their progress and ability adding to his own. It didn't remove any part of his own personality to give it to them. He wasn't diminished in any way by it, save for a small loss of chakra when he made them, and the chakra they drew from him, but they gave him all of their memories, all of their thoughts.

The most unsettling of it all was receiving their appreciation of being alive for the short time they were. The exception lay in the clones that had been going through difficulties in training, where nothing seemed to go right during their short lives. All he got as their last thought was a sense of relief and thanks for it ending and being no more.

He knew there was something important or grand to that thought, but he was tired and couldn't really think straight, and he doubted he could grasp it anyway. He was just happy that even if their 'deaths' came so soon that they'd barely lived at all, so many of them were happy for even that brief time. With a smile on his face he slipped into slumber.

The room he shared with Sasuke lay in silence for a long time as the dark haired boy lay in his bed, listening to Naruto's breathing even out and the snoring began. He slipped out from under his blanket and his bare feet touched the floor as he slipped over to the windowsill. It was a lot less tense than when they had been on the road, where Kakashi or any of them could wake up if they heard him leaving.

He glimpsed Naruto's clone with it's back turned as he dropped silently from the window to the ground before padding softly out into the forest as the tension in his head increased, indicating the approach of midnight. His father always taught him the importance of privacy and solemnity in performing the evening inori [supplications], and the importance of never missing them.

Once he was far enough away to ensure he wasn't seen he knelt down on the forest floor and drew a point with ten spokes radiating out from the center before bowing his head to it and putting his wrists together with his fingers splayed outward in both directions in imitation of the design as he closed his eyes and began to whisper his prayers.

"Our Father who lies beyond the veil, glory to thy name. Your kingdom come, they will be done in this place as it is where you lie. Chastise our failings and give us our strength, raise us above others as you are raised above us. Reveal to me the greatest of sight, of your power and glory beyond any other. Test us with your will so that we may deliver ourselves unto you on the day of your coming. You who must not be named hold all glory, all power and the nations will bow at your feet on the day you show your face unto the world in your glorious coming. May your will endure forever and raise us up as your servants," Sasuke whispered in the formal prayer that every Uchiha since the dawning of the clan had spoken so many times it was as much a part of the clan as the Sharingan itself.

He felt the tingling in his head, behind his eyes intensify as his prayer finished at midnight, followed by the strange wave of tingling that washed over him and his eyes widened and he smiled.

"He heard me!" Sasuke whispered in joy as he began lowering his face to the sigil he'd sketched on the ground several times in reverence before smoothing the dirt over gently and padding back to his waiting bed.

* * *

Sakura yawned as she sat on the edge of the bridge watching Tazuna and his workers labor.

"Wow, you seem really bored," Tazuna said as he rolled up the blueprints he'd been gesturing at and pointing at the bridge while giving instructions to the foreman, "Where is that really strong kid you're and the other one?"

"Oh, Sasuke-kun and Naruto are both out training," Sakura said, beaming in pride that the old man recognized her true love's strength.

"Oh? Why don't you have to train with them?" Tazuna asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I mastered the exercise yesterday," she said with a smile, "And Kakashi-sensei had me guard you because he said he had something to do."

"Super," he said, "If you already mastered it you must be even stronger than that blond kid."

Sakura snorted, "Naruto? He sucks compared to me," she said, "He tries to act all cool but he only winds up looking like an idiot and pissing Sasuke-kun off. I'm sure Sasuke-kun would be finished with the exercise already too if he didn't have problems because of his really high chakra levels."

Tazuna just looked away at the labors of the men on the bridge. It confused him how the rest of their team always seemed to make fun of the blond kid, Naruto. Sure he acted like an idiot, but watching what happened to the demon brothers had scared him. The black haired kid moved a lot faster than he did, but both of the other ninja had gotten right back up. The suddenness of the way the blond killed them both, the seeming ease of it honestly scared him. The blond seemed to barely move at all when Tazuna found himself hidden high in the tree branches and staring down at an identical copy of himself, before the two had met their gristly end.

He'd overheard enough from them to realize that for some reason their Sensei was hiding the true danger of their teammate from them. He had been certain the kid had been trying to protest that he already knew the training thing he'd wanted them to do before his sensei had cut him off. He wasn't sure how climbing trees made ninja stronger but the whole situation confused him.

He could definitely believe the black haired kid was physically stronger than Naruto, given how fast he'd moved and kicked the two ninja earlier. Compared to that, the blond kid's speed when he'd taken down that freaky eyebrowless guy's water thingy was like he was moving in water. Still, as a bridge builder Tazuna believed in results and as far as he'd seen the blond kid was way scarier, simply because he'd had no clue what was going on, while the dark haired kid was really straightforward.

If she was better than the blond then maybe he really would be safe. He probably hadn't seen the true extend of the dark haired kid's strength either, just a single kick and an thrown shuriken that Zabuza had almost lazily caught despite that it was moving so fast Tazuna had barely been able to see it. If he had been holding back and the blond kid really was the weakest on the team like they seemed to act, then he'd have to increase his respect for the skills of ninja.

"Hey Tazuna," one of his workers with short spiked hair called out as he approached while holding his hardhat and looking ashamed, "I think I need to quit."

"Why Giichi?" Tazuna asked, "We're getting so close."

"That's exactly it," Giichi said with a sigh, "Look Tazuna, I have a wife and kids. If the bridge goes much further Gatou will start targeting us workers."

"This bridge can give your wife and kids a real future," Tazuna pleaded, "It's the hope of our entire country! You can't just give up now."

Giichi refused to meet Tazuna's eye.

"Tell you what, I'll call a break for the day since it's only noon. I'll give the workers the rest of the day off and you can think about it," Tazuna said, "I really mean it. Quitting won't make your family any safer, but if this bridge fails it will destroy any hope we have left. Can you really conscience that?"

Giichi sighed, "Okay I'll think about it and talk it over with Risa," he said slowly, "We all respect you Tazuna, and we know what you're going through but you have to think about it the way we see it. We can't all chase after the dreams of a dead man in his stead."

Tazuna's face darkened before he called an end to the work for the day.

"Tazuna-san? What was that about?" Sakura asked softly as the man threw his hard hat into the toll booth they had built and were currently using as a storage shed and pulled out one of the round waterproof reed hats that everyone in wave seemed to wear.

"It's personal," Tazuna said gruffly, "I have some things I need to do in the village."

Sakura bit her lip but didn't push further for an answer before following him off the bridge and toward the nearby village.

* * *

"Fancy seeing you here," Kakashi said as he stood on the ridge of a rocky cliff, leaning against his crutches.

"I decided that I should at least say hello while we were here, teichou [captain]," the soft and fluid voice of man in a huge bamboo hat that concealed his face replied.

"Eh, you sure we should be talking to him?" a much taller figure with a rougher voice asked from beneath his bamboo hat.

"It is fine," the softer voiced man said; "I know he will not betray us."

The taller man nodded and he shrugged casually, causing his dark robes with billowing red clouds embroidered above the hem to rustle.

"We are not the only ones here," the soft voice man said, "There are others far below us present on or near this island."

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow in surprise.

"Alright, what's that mean?" Kakashi asked.

"I cannot say more, so sorry teichou," the soft spoken man said, "How are they? My personal interests. It's been so long since I've had a chance to see about them. My superiors… they are waiting for a more appropriate moment to begin moving again, but I think I will be assigned to deal with the one they are interested in."

"They're both turning out pretty amazing;" Kakashi said with a laugh, "In terms of raw physical ability Sasuke is about on par with you at his age. He's just a mystery though. I wish I could get him to think about something other than killing... well, you know. Maybe it would open him up to becoming a better ninja."

"It hurts teichou," the soft spoken man said, "Hearing that he's chosen that path. I know he can overcome it though. I know it."

Kakashi just shrugged, "Naruto is amazing. He's on the opposite end of the spectrum. Except for having more actual chakra, his physical ability is extremely low, but he's got talent. By the will of fire, he has talent," Kakashi swore, "And he works himself half to death every single day. If it weren't for his disadvantages I'd have him pegged to make chuunin first, even if he's horrid at a straightforward fight. He's getting trickier every day."

A soft chuckle came from the shorter man, "Maybe he really can do what needs to be done," he mused.

"What needs to be done? You still haven't told me what you've gotten into," Kakashi muttered.

"The Hokage knows at least a little," the man said, "It's just a matter of time before things begin unfolding. I can't say anything though, it's far too soon… umm, Teichou?"

"Alright, yeah?" Kakashi replied.

"Can I ask you a personal favor?" the man whispered.

"Yes," Kakashi replied with a short nod.

"Promise me you'll keep Sasuke safe," the soft spoken man said, "I still have so much hope for him. I love him teichou."

Kakashi nodded, "You know that I never let my comrades die, I'll keep both of them safe," he said, shooting the man his smiling eye. The bamboo hat tilted upward for a moment before both of them disappeared, leaving behind the after image of the man's small smile, and his blood red eyes with black markings identical to the one in Kakashi's left eye.

Kakashi shook his head like a dog for a moment to clear the nostalgia and sighed.

"Why does life have to be so complicated?" he mumbled as he turned to watch the surf crash into the rocks at the bottom of the cliff as though waiting for them to answer.

"Might as well go check on them," he said with a shrug before hobbling off toward the distant home of Tazuna.

* * *

[AN] Alright, I hope that this gave a little more development to the side characters, as for the major comments that came up in recent reviews...

The 'Byakugan' Naruto has is not the original by any stretch. However don't expect it to be 'superpowered'. It was a plot device for me in truth, and as with everything it will come with some negatives to go with the positives. You've already seen some of these in the Zabuza battle. It's not capable of focusing everywhere at once, but rather has one 'focus' and the rest is peripheral vision. Interference can further hinder that peripheral vision as well.

As far as Sasuke's 'darkness' goes, it's not really about Sasuke at all. It's about the Sharingan, something that was foreshadowed previously, and I think becomes more apparent now.

While a large part of the wave arc will run parallel to canon, this is where I'm going to be opening up some of the major deviations that will go onward, as well as quite a few of the themes I wanted to cover here.

As for Super!Naruto... not going to happen. He's going to do amazing things sometimes, but he'll also have his moments of not being that hot. He's not going to become a genius overnight, probably not even in a single year. The improvement will be gradual. As of his graduation from the academy he really was dead last, as in the worst of all those the academy turned out, so he's got a lot of distance to go before his performance becomes consistantly good.

As for the boob fixation... well all of those comments are from Naruto's perspective. A 14 year old boy who as of a short while ago not only discovered that yes in fact, girls are different, but can constantly see those differences. It's more of a novelty thing to him at the moment (though it will likely be something of a running joke in the future).

Well, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. I'm not sure if I'll be posting tomorrow as well as I'm a bit flu-ish at the moment, but I'll try to get it out.


	7. Chapter 7Omake:Lateness

[AN:] Sorry about the long while between posting. I'm feeling a bit better now. However I must say that life is encroaching and though I have about to chapter 10 or 11 blocked out, I'm going to slow down a bit so that I don't fall way behind.

This chapter is a bit short, as I wanted to start the next chapter at a certain point in the plot, so in compensation I've given you all a humorous Omake that explains one of the greatest secrets of the Narutoverse.

* * *

Sakura walked through the streets of the village while staring in horror at sallow faces and weary eyes. She'd never seen anything like it. There were men walking around wearing signs pleading for a job, and she'd heard at least two shouts of 'Thief!' and had to stop a pickpocket for a grateful civilian.

"Things are really bad," Sakura said with a furrowed brow, "I heard what you said about it being poor here, but I couldn't really imagine it."

Her brow furrowed further. That wasn't actually true. Once she'd cut through the low district where Naruto lived, and the people there looked a lot like these people, just sort of… defeated, used up.

"In here," Tazuna said, opening the door of a shop for her and her eyes widened as she looked at the shelves. There was barely anything on them for people to buy. She watched a little boy steal a can of food that was missing a label and bolt out the door, and couldn't get the image of how badly his ribs were showing out of her head. Tazuna whispered something to the shopkeeper and the shopkeeper led him through a rear door followed by Sakura.

"There you go Tazuna," the woman said, "Like you ordered."

Tazuna nodded and sighed, "Here, it's my pocket watch. That's real gold," he said as he pulled the object from his pocket and handed it to the woman who looked sadly at it.

"Don't worry," she said with tears in her eyes, "I won't sell it unless I absolutely have to. If you can finish your bridge I can sell it back to you as soon as money starts flowing in again."

Tazuna shot the woman a smile and nodded before pulling a slip of paper from his pocket, "I need ten pounds of fish, and ten pounds of chicken, twelve pounds of flower and one of sugar, and a twenty pound bag of rice out of the set. Distribute the rest to the people on this list okay? They're in really rough shape. Be sure to give a little extra to the Mizuno family, their baby isn't looking good and I'm worried that the lack of food…"

The woman nodded quickly before giving Tazuna a hug, "I'll have Giichi bring it to your home later," she said.

"He's thinking about leaving to keep you safe," Tazuna said softly, "I can respect that. Let him know… let him know that he doesn't have to come back and that I'm sorry for trying to convince him to."

The woman bit her lip and nodded, as the look in her eyes firmed up, "Take care Tazuna-san, but make sure not to pass his hardhat on to someone else yet," she said as she hurried them out of the back room.

As they left the store Sakura shot a strange look up at Tazuna, "You just manipulated that woman into convincing her husband not to quit work," she said and Tazuna snorted.

"It's my job. I was the mayor of this village before Gatou disbanded the local government. Even now I'm still responsible for holding us all together. Not every politician is a greedy moron. Some actually realize that making sure the people they work for are happy and healthy is the best way to stay in office," Tazuna said before his face become softer, "And some honestly want to help."

Sakura gave Tazuna a shaky smile as he stopped and pulled a tiny piece of candy from his pocket and gave it to a child whose face lit up like the sun before running off, calling to her mother to show her the treat she'd gotten. Tazuna gave her a laugh.

"I don't resort to baby kissing," he said with a wink, "But once this bridge is finished and the government can restart, well, maybe a little bribery now can pay off later."

Sakura gave a small laugh at his excuse for making the child's day brighter. He may have been an old, cantankerous drunk, but it was obvious he really cared about his village.

* * *

"So you actually decided to show your face," Sasuke said with a glare as Kakashi approached where he was trying to climb the tree, only about a third of the way to the top based on the slashes on the bark.

"Huh, I was just about to give you some advice," Kakashi said with a shrug, "Oh well, nevermind then."

"Wait!" Sasuke shouted as he went to turn away, "What advice?"

"Concentrate," Kakashi said.

"Concentrate? That's your advice?" Sasuke growled in frustration.

"Chakra flows the smoothest when you have calm concentration," Kakashi said, "The more relaxed you are the easier it is to control. Just focus it carefully and concentrate on the chakra flow instead of your progress up the tree and it'll go much faster."

Sasuke frowned and nodded before sitting down to calm himself as Kakashi advised. When he noticed his sensei had disappeared again he had to restart the calming process all over again.

* * *

"BOO!"

"EEEEK!"

-CRACK-

"Muh Nofe!" Naruto shouted as his face throbbed while he covered his bleeding nose with his hands and he scowled at Kakashi before rubbing his leg. Kakashi had interrupted him as he was preparing to pulse chakra through it and his startlement had pushed far more into it than he'd intended and his own leg had smashed his nose bloody.

"How is it going?" Kakashi asked as Naruto whimpered and reset the bone in his nose before taking one of the healing pills Kakashi had given him a bottle of right after the encounter with the demon brothers. Those things were awesome!

Naruto pulled down his mask and blew the blood from his rapidly healing nose onto the ground.

"Fine until you showed up," he growled, "Well, not fine. I think I've got part of the Suirou Fuuin figured out, see?"

One of his clones near the stream screamed as a lash of water came out of the scroll, piercing straight through it.

"It's not just raw chakra anymore, it's actual water. I can't get it to actually form the prison yet, and I'm not sure how to use it without a source of water yet, but I'm getting closer," he said, "I just can't get the stupid speed control junk Gai-sensei was trying to teach me right!"

Kakashi tapped his chin for a moment, "Hmm, that is difficult," Kakashi said, "It looks like you've got waterwalking on a stream down pat too, so that won't help improve your control much more. Have you tried finding an eddy? Like a whirlpool to try to water walk on? If you sent your clones down to were the water flows out to sea from this stream you can probably find one. The water there is even more unsteady, and the worse the whirlpool the more unsteady it can get, hence the better pulse control you need."

Naruto crushed Kakashi in a hug that made Kakashi groan in pain before he sheepishly let him go.

"Well get to it then," Kakashi said while wandering off, "There's only four or five days left."

Naruto clenched his fists in determination before directing his clones downstream to search for an eddy.

* * *

'Kami, what pigs,' Sakura thought as she watched Sasuke and Naruto trying not to barf from eating too fast.

She paled and quickly thought, 'I meant Naruto! Naruto! Never Sasuke-kun!'

'Ain't got to convince me sister,' her thoughts replied back, 'This is your head.'

Sakura's expression looked vaguely constipated for a moment before she shrugged.

"Thanks Tsunami! It was great," Naruto said with a yawn, "With food like this to keep up our energy we'll get super strong in no time, Dattebaiyou!"

Sakura got up to avoid having to watch them… him eat and walked around the room before stopping as a picture with a large corner missing caught her eye.

'Huh, that's weird, it's like someone's been removed from the picture,' she thought.

"Umm, excuse me Tsunami-san, this picture looks like someone was torn out of it," she said and a pall of silence took over the table immediately and Tazuna dropped his fork suddenly.

"It was my husband," Tsunami said softly.

"I just wondered because Inari-san was glaring at it all through dinner," she said apologetically, "I didn't know it was that sort of thing."

"No, that's not it at all," Tazuna said, "He was the last real hero this village ever had."

Inari stood so quickly and ran off that his plate clattered from the table and smashed on the floor.

"Tousan [father]! I told you not to talk about him in front of Inari!" Tsunami yelled before chasing off after him.

Tazuna sighed, "I'm sorry about that," he said in a defeated voice, "Kaiza was the name of the man in that picture. He was Inari's father in all but blood. A brave man who had lived a hard life as a fisherman. He became a part of the family nearly three years ago he rescued Inari from drowning because of a few cruel boys that didn't know he couldn't swim."

Tazuna gave a wistful look at the missing part of the picture, "Tsunami fell in love with him instantly. He was a man I was proud to call my son in law," Tazuna said, "When the Taifuu [hurricane] hit that year and the dam gates broke, sending floodwaters into the village… Kaiza jumped right into the worst of the rapids to tie a rope to the gate so they could close it and save that portion of the village. He was someone nearly everyone in the village adored."

Tazuna's face turned grim, "He was one of the first people to oppose Gatou's takeover," he said in a dark tone, "They forced our family to watch as they cut off his arms and beheaded him in the center of the village as a 'terrorist'. Since then this family… this entire village… has never been the same. It hurt us in a way nothing else probably could have."

Naruto stood up, intending to confront Inari, but before he could make it two steps he slumped to the ground, dead asleep.

* * *

[We interrupt this work of fan fiction to bring you this breaking Omake for your viewing pleasure, a bit of humor before the wave arc moves towards its bloody climax.]

Naru-kashi: Secret of Lateness and Lame Excuses

Naruto sighed heavily as he walked through the forest alone, in plain civilian clothes, just a pair of black cargo pants and a black t-shirt. He wasn't sure what exactly happened to his orange clothing, but he was reasonably sure someone had broken in and stolen them. Why a thief would leave behind different clothes in their place mystified him. Maybe orange dye had some expensive mineral base to it? It made sense in his mind, considering how cool the color was. At least the thief was nice enough not to leave him with nothing to wear when off duty.

Kakashi-sensei had ordered him to take a day off because his muscles were stiff enough that he was starting to limp, and he'd been pretty sluggish when he'd woken up that morning. He had permission to have his clones work on his fuuinjutsu, but his chakra intensive speed control and waterwalking lessons were banned for the day. It was boring considering he couldn't train.

He was getting close to the sea where his clones had been working on chakra control the previous night. He'd felt restless lately and Kakashi-sensei was hounding him about there being a life outside of training and burnout being just as bad as chakra exhaustion, only that it took longer to recover from.

He just wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing _other_ than training. He'd never really done anything before except pranking. He'd pestered Kakashi for twenty minutes for what exactly he was supposed to be doing before Kakashi threw several scrolls at him and told him to get the hell out and let him sleep.

So now he was wandering in the woods with a fishing pole and a bucket of minnows in a sealed scroll in his pocket, a sketch pad and a bunch of pencils in another, and a half dozen things that looked like hand rolled cigarettes in a third and a big sign that read 'If I'm bored enough to carry this around, punch me in the face… repeatedly.'

He didn't appreciate Kakashi-sensei's sense of humor.

Still, fishing seemed pretty interesting, since the sea water flowed straight through the gaps between the islands. He'd headed towards the canal nearest to Tazuna's home, the one that the battle with Zabuza had occurred beside. He walked a ways down the beachfront until he hit a spot where it was nice and quiet, mostly hidden from the rest of the beach and the water seemed to drop straight off from the little ledge of stone that hung over the water rather than the sand on either side. It was probably a spot only a ninja or someone with a lot of rope could get into unless they wanted to swim around to it.

The fishing pole was a really solid one made out of some sort of flexible but strong black material with a big reel on it and thick line, a large treble hook at the end of it. He frowned at the large minnows in the bucket and at the hook before pulling one of the squirming fish out and trying to figure out how the hook went through it. He slipped the wooden geta [wooden sandals with bars of wood across the soles on the bottom] on his feet off and set them beside him before casting his line out into the water, using a little strength enhancement to ensure that it dropped far enough out.

"So now what?" Naruto said as he stared at the pole in his hands for several minutes without any jerking on it to show a fish had bitten, "This is boring. Fishing with bare hands and kunai is a lot more fun."

He sighed as he stuck his feet in the water and shivered slightly. It wasn't frigid, as the winter had been fairly warm in Nami no Kuni, like usual as it caught the warm current that flowed in from the Eastern sea down by Kaze no Kuni [The Land of Winds] through the canal that went through the spur in the northeast of Hi no Kuni [the Land of Fire] a bit west of the boarder of Cha no Kuni [the Land of Tea]. It kept the waters here a lot warmer than those of Mizu no Kuni [the Land of Water] and Rai no Kuni [the Land of Lightning] who were surrounded by the icy northern currents.

It was still pleasantly cool compared the sun beating down warmly on the black rock he was sitting on and his clothing and face. It may have been boring fishing like this, but he had to admit it was really peaceful and beautiful.

"Hmm, maybe if I can catch one of the big ocean fish Tazuna said can be caught in the canals I can draw it," Naruto said as he peered at the other scrolls he had, "I've never smoked before though. I know Jiji does, but he uses a pipe, not cigarettes."

Naruto opened up the small silver cigarette case and sniffed them.

"Heh, it smells just like Jiji's pipe… a little different, the tobacco Jiji puts in his pipe has those little red hairs and smells tangier," he mumbled as he lifted one of the hand rolled cigarettes to his lips and struck one of the matches from the book inside the tin and lit it, puffing on it gently.

He nearly gagged himself coughing as the smoke hit his lungs.

"Eh, that stuff makes my lungs itchy," Naruto said before taking another draw on the cigarette and trying to hold it in, making funny noises as he tried to keep from coughing it out, vaguely similar to some of the base lines in techno music before it exploded from his lungs. His head felt a bit fuzzy and he giggled.

"So this is why Jiji smokes," he said with a sagely nod as a stupid grin spread across his face and he felt the knots in his muscles relaxing.

Naruto finished the cigarette off before giggling wildly as it burned his fingertips, having burned too far down and he tossed the burning piece of paper that was devoid of any more of the sticky green tobacco into the water.

"Here fishy-fishy," Naruto called across the water before giggling and splashing the water with his feet, "Wow, this is the coolest thing ever. I feel so relaxed and happy, but it doesn't make me sick like the time I tried to drink."

Of course perhaps some of the sickness may have been due to the fact that the alcohol he'd had he'd stolen off a bum who'd passed out not far from his apartment. Fishing did prove far less boring as his mind wandered for nearly an hour before a terrified, enraged and very loud shout rang over the entire island in Kakashi-sensei's voice.

"THE LITTLE BASTARD STOLE MY POT!"

Naruto giggled, "How do you steal a toilet?" he said, "Wait… I stole one at the academy… nevermind. Did I steal Kakashi's toilet?"

He frowned in concentration, "I don't remember stealing his toilet," Naruto said before tilting his head with a shrug, "Eh, I could be wrong."

It wasn't too much longer before he felt the pole jerk in his hands and his body immediately reacted, whipping the pole back so fast it seemed to disappear entirely for a moment as a massive tuna breached the surface of the water. It flew at Naruto faster than any fish had gone before and impacted with his face with a loud wet slapping sound before it landed in his arms and Naruto giggled.

"Did I just get slapped in the face by a tuna?" he muttered as he glared at the fish in his arms, "Poor guy, you just got slapped in the chest by a Naruto's face. I'll let you be free."

He carefully removed the fish with a snapped spine from his hook and set it back in the water before pushing it outward into the water again, "Float away little fishy, be free. Hmm, are fish supposed to float?"

He shrugged, "Okay, I've done the fishing thing. It was cool," he said as he sealed the fishing pole and the rest of the minnows away and tucked the cigarette case in his pocket before sliding on his geta once more. With a good hard leap he caught hold of the edge of the rock face above the ledge and flung himself up before he began walking down the bluff toward where the beach itself started again.

"I wonder if it's hard to draw," Naruto mumbled as he thought about the last scroll he had with him. It was either that or wearing the sign around and he wasn't in the mood for a sign. What did people draw anyway? Sunsets and bowls of fruit just seemed dumb. Maybe he should have drawn the fishy?

He shrugged when he heard the sound of splashing and feminine laughter nearby and widened the radius of his vision before giggling and sneaking over to a group of bushes to hide behind. Down on the sandy beach was a pair of girls his age swimming. They didn't seem to have bathing suits so they were wearing t-shirts tied up at their breasts and panties.

"Sweet," Naruto mumbled, "I'll draw this! Heehee!"

One of the girls had long red hair above green eyes that was wet and plastered against her face and back. Naruto felt his nose bleeding beneath his mask and giggled as she tried to dunk one of her friends and Naruto grinned broadly as her breasts mashed against the other girl's back. He didn't even need penetrative sight to get a show, as the t-shirts and white panties where pretty much see through.

"Perfect, Datte-fucking-baiyou!" Naruto giggled, "Mash those boobs! Yeah!"

He unsealed the paper with another perverse giggle before thinking harder, "Hmm, I don't know how to draw yet, but if I memorize this then use my Kage Bunshin to practice later it'll look a lot better. It's good research for learning to draw," he said with a huge grin as the top came off the girl who had been dunked and she shrieked and covered her handful of tits as her short cropped green hair broke the surface of the water. Naruto quickly glanced down below the waterline.

"Hell yes! The carpet does match the drapes!" he cheered quietly.

"Rena! You bitch!" the girl shrieked, "My shirt's floated away."

Naruto giggled wildly.

"Don't be a prude Sashi," the red haired girl said while sticking out her tongue, "It's not like there's anyone around to see."

"You don't know that!" Sashi hissed.

"Fine, I'll get rid of mine if it will make you feel better," Rena said with a giggle as her hands went to her shirt.

"Dattebaiyou! Take that shirt off, woo!" Naruto giggled perversely as his fingers fumbled to open the cigarette case, "This art research stuff is great."

"It's still not fair," Sashi whined, "I mean you've got great boobs but mine are too small."

"They're not that small, besides you have longer nipples," Rena said as she pinched her own and Naruto felt his pants tent high enough to build a beacon tower at the top of and be seen for miles, "And you can't just blame it on the cool water!"

"It's still not fair," Sashi said as Naruto lifted a shaky hand to his lips and lit the cigarette while she pushed her boobs together and he giggled.

"I just wish mine would get bigger," she said staring down at the mounds of flesh she was pushing upward.

"Hey Sashi, do you smell that?" Rena asked, "I smell pot."

Naruto frowned. He'd heard Kakashi-sensei yell something about pot earlier and glanced at the cigarette in his hand as he realized that the smell of it burning was particularly pungent. Was it nicknamed pot or something?

"Let's go find where it is," Rena said, "Maybe if it's some old guy we can convince him to let us smoke with him."

"But our shirts!" Sashi protested.

"We'll just wrap our towels around us," Rena said, "Besides; it'll only make it easier if it's some guy."

Naruto panicked as he realized they were walking towards where he was while sniffing the air and he moved further back into the woods before finding a tree to get comfortable in front of and sitting cross legged as though that was where he'd been all along. He quickly swapped out with a new mask and wiped the blood off his face.

"Oh, here it is! Hey there," Rena said as she appeared with a threadbare towel wrapped around her upper body, "I've never seen you around here before."

"Alright, yeah," Naruto said with a grin while imitating Kakashi-sensei who had to be one of the coolest guys he knew, "I was watching nature and doing a little meditating. I'm not from around here."

"Wow, cool," Rena said as she flounced down a few feet from him and a blushing Sashi sat beside her. Naruto kept his hand in his pocket, forcibly restraining the beast.

"So what are you doing here?" Sashi said, "Nobody comes to Nami no Kuni anymore."

Naruto gave a laidback chuckle as he tugged his mask up while leaving his nose and the tiny trickle of blood coming from it hidden for just long enough to take another hit, "Alright, yeah, uh, well, I've got a day of leave off duty from protecting Tazuna-san, so I'm out here trying to relax and watch nature for some inspiration for my future drawings," he said as he tried to act casual, "Can't be a ninja all the time or you'll go crazy."

"Oh wait! You're one of the ones guarding Tazuna-san until he completes the bridge!" Sashi said with wide eyes, "Sooo cool!"

"You want some?" Naruto asked, figuring that was why they came in the first place.

"Really? Thanks!" Rena said accepting it from his hand and puffing on it before handing it to Sashi.

The time sort of slipped by as everything went funny and the towels somehow disappeared. They wound up asking him a lot of questions about being ninja and he was nearing the end of his realizations about his kage bunshin the previous night.

"So yeah, it's really sad, and I can't help but wonder if that's how Kami feels. Like if we're just pale images of it that can only hold a tiny fragment of who it really is. I think all we can do in that case is to be happy for the short time we have," he said as he snacked on one of Tsunami's cookies she had given him to seal into the scroll, "And learn all we can so that when we disappear Kami understands the world just a little bit better because of what we learned when we become a part of it again."

"Wow Naruto-kun," Rena said with her jaw hanging open and her breasts swaying tantalizingly, "That's so deep. Umm, would you like to come back with us? My mom's in her shop in the village?"

She fluttered her eyelashes at him and Sashi blushed furiously. Naruto grunted to before standing up putting his hand on his leg to cover the wet sticky spot that might have shown through. He was about to agree to when he noticed that the sun had already well passed its zenith and he winced.

"So sorry," he said with true sadness, "I've got to get back."

"Aww," Sashi said before giving him a bare breasted hug, joined by Rena. Those nearly made him pass out from blood loss and almost spoiled his longest streak of playing it cool in his whole life. Both girls gave him a peck on his cheek.

"We'll write you when you get back to Konoha so the next time you're here we can visit and talk more about stuff," Sashi promised as she shifted his arm around her waist down so his hand was firmly over her bottom.

"Alright," Naruto said, "Well, I've really got to go or my captain will have my hide. See ya."

He lost track of reality entirely for several minutes as both girls gave him a kiss on the lips, with TONGUE before he walked away. Once he was far enough away he sagged heavily and pulled down his mask, displaying a red stained face, all the way down his neck.

"Being cool is way hard, is this how Sensei feels all the time?" he mumbled as he cleaned himself off and switched into the third mask of the day. He was nearly four hours late for lunch when he made it back to Tazuna's place. The first thing that greeted him, and seriously harshed his buzz was Sakura already in full rage.

"YOU'RE LATE!"

"Umm, well, you see I went out fishing and I got a bite, but it was like a sixty pound tuna and it got in a fight with me, but I came out the winner," he explained, "Then I met two really pretty girls in wet t-shirts and then they got rid of them and we sat around and talked about philosophy. I sort of got lost on the path of life somewhere in there and when I found my way back it was already late."

Sakura and Sasuke were staring at him with their jaws gaping while Kakashi's eye twitched.

"Sakura… is this genjutsu? Kakashi-sensei was on time for lunch and now Naruto shows up with Sensei's excuses, four hours late," Sasuke mumbled, "It's like reality made a mistake today."

"Hey, I'm telling the truth!" Naruto grumbled.

"Naruto where's that silver case?" Kakashi asked in an annoyed tone.

"Oh here it is," Naruto said as he fished it out of his pocket and tossed it to Kakashi as Sakura and Sasuke beat a path out of the room to escape the immanent collapse of reality that an on-time Kakashi and a Kakashi-Naruto would induce.

"The fuck?" Kakashi said as tears began to run from his open eye and he removed the lone joint remaining from the case, "Where'd it all go?"

"Hot chicks, no shirts," Naruto said nodding sagely before making squeezing motions in the air, "Boo-bies."

Kakashi groaned before cheering up slightly, "Well at least there's enough here if I ration it," he said as Tsunami swept into the room and her eyes widened as she noticed what was in his hand.

"Sensei! I can't believe you! Having this out so shamelessly in the presence of innocent kids like Naruto-kun!" she hissed as she snatched it from his hand and tossed it out the kitchen window… into the water outside.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Kakashi screamed before running out of the room, collapsing into a ball and beginning to shiver and sob uncontrollably.

[We now return you to your regularly scheduled fan fiction.]


	8. Chapter 8

[AN:] Quick review replies:

Obito was included as the other 'decent' Uchiha, but not named explicitly.

Age of Naruto is 14 to allow for excess 'loser' factor and to set him in the same age category as several other characters which will fill roles here.

Naruto isn't immune to genjutsu. If he can recognize the jutsu forming he knows it's coming, but it does decrease his ability to see, meaning it's easier for it to 'slip' past him, i.e. it takes concentration to see past it.

The Henge in canon is in fact a solid chakra shell containing the individual's consciousness, not a genjutsu, hence why Sasuke could throw him as a shuriken during the canon Wave arc.

I know the 'Dattebaiyou' thing is incorrect, but I like the slightly darker spin it puts on his persona, gives a hint of underlying cynicism beneath the 'loser' façade. I find that the lack of any cynical traits is unrealistic.

Author Comment: Sorry the updates are coming a little more slowly, I'm working on a bit of non-hobby related writing currently, so expect a slightly slower pace, though I'll make sure to keep it above once a week.

* * *

Haku smiled at Zabuza who was sitting up in bed eating breakfast.

"You should be fine by tomorrow," she said as she walked over to the window and gazed outside, "I need to go gather some herbs to refresh our supplies though."

She saw Zabuza nod in the reflection the window provided, "I guess I get to become a civilian for a day," she said wistfully, reaching up and letting down her hair. She shook her head as it tumbled free, fanning out behind her before she began slipping out of the heavy clothing she wore. She sighed softly as she stripped off her hakama [a man's formal divided skirt] and stood there in only her bandage wrappings and the old style undergarment she favored, reminiscent of a thong. It hurt her a bit, every time Zabuza-sama turned his face away as though he were ashamed to look.

She walked over to the armoire and pulled out a pink kimono [similar to a robe of light material] and obi [waist sash] with small black spirals on it and slipped it over her shoulders before wrapping it around her body and tying it. There was no sense in removing her chest wrapping. With Gatou's thugs present on the island appearing flat chested would keep them from harassing her and ruining one of the few opportunities she had to play the carefree civilian.

"I'll be back before noon," she said with a warm smile before grabbing the basket she'd set on the stand to carry the herbs back with and skipping out the door.

Once she was away from the exotic architecture of the building Zabuza-sama had selected to stay in, both for its ease of defensibility and its out of the way forest location she tilted her head back and listened to the birds singing in the pre-dawn light. It was moments like these that she could entirely forget she was a kunoichi.

She walked a fair distance away from their current stronghold before glancing around for any of the herbs she needed. It only took a few minutes of peaceful wandering before she found a small patch of uva-ursi groundcover. She bent down and carefully picked a small portion of what was there.

When harvesting herbs she knew it was best to leave four times as much as you picked behind to make sure that the plants would continue to flourish. If you picked them properly and evenly all over rather than just in one location it only served to thin out the patch and they'd grow even better than before you harvested it, and she was very careful not to risk damaging the plants in an area. She handled the herb delicately to keep from bruising it and slipped it into a small fold of cloth before tucking it into her basket and wandering onward.

The air was a bit crisp, but nothing too dreadfully cold and the trees blocked the wind that was sure to make it chillier that rolled in off the sea. She was bent to pick a bit of deadly nightshade. In the hands of a skilled herbalist could be used to produce an anesthetic that was very valuable in its use of immobilizing a patient without killing them for more complex surgical procedures.

Suddenly a touch came on her shoulder before she felt tiny talons press against the fabric of her kimono and she giggled as she turned and saw a songbird perched there. It cocked its head to the side and warbled at her and she gave it a happy smile as she stood. It flew off and she grabbed her basket to follow its passage as it alit on branches before flying off again as she nearly caught up, as though leading her on a childish chase. Eventually it dropped down and landed on something on the forest floor.

Her eyes widened as she recognized the black outfit, mask and armor of the boy the bird had perched on. His blond hair and Konoha headband declared him unmistakably to be the boy from Zabuza-sama's battle with Sharingan Kakashi. She wasn't concerned about him recognizing her, despite the fact that he had to be a Hyuuga, though his hair and manner of dress were a far cry from that stereotypical of that clan. Perhaps he was a bastard of the clan that had evaded being claimed?

She knew he hadn't seen under her mask as she'd kept an eye on him after she noted the white eyes, but the veins on his temples never bulged in the telltale sign of activation, which meant he had gotten no better idea of her real face than any of the others. Still, seeing him there with the birds perched on him, a happy smile on his sleeping face and a scroll clutched in his hands she knew it was her best chance to eliminate the boy who had set off alarm bells in her head as being dangerous.

That had been especially clear in her mind after witnessing that he was capable of using the Henge to produce an avian form actually capable of flight. That indicated a level of mastery of one of the core six that she hadn't even begun to approach. She was becoming startlingly good with the Nawanuke [Art of Rope Shedding] to the point where she could decorporealize her whole arm and push it through a wall before solidifying only her hand with her arm through then retract it once more without injury. However it didn't match up with the absurd difficulty of being able to coordinate muscle movements in a body that was entirely different from your natural one. If it had been some other sort of animal it wouldn't have been as disturbing as the mechanics of locomotion were much easier save for a few notable exceptions outside of avians.

She sighed softly. Today was her one day of freedom, the first in so long, from the duties of a kunoichi. For today she could forget her duty and simply be at peace. She reached down slowly and touched his shoulder as the birds perched on him took flight.

"Wha?" Naruto groaned as he awoke and Haku took a step back. As sleep fled his mind he nearly squeaked in shock as he recognized the most horrible sight he'd ever seen before in his short life. He would have known those incredible breasts and the crime against nature that bound them up so tightly anywhere.

"You could get sick from exposure sleeping out here on a chilly morning," Haku said with a soft smile.

"Oh, umm thanks," Naruto said as he sat up, trying to act naturally in a way that wouldn't get him killed by the far stronger kunoichi, "Umm, who are you?"

Haku giggled, "My name is Haku," she said softly. The boy was surprisingly cute up close and out of a combat situation.

"Oh, heh-heh, my name's Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto," he said with a grin. She seemed to not be interested in fighting and her easy and gentle mannerisms made acting relaxed a lot easier.

"So umm, Haku-chan, what are you doing out here?" Naruto asked in a tone that was genuinely curious.

"I'm out collecting herbs to refresh my supplies," she said softly, "My father got sick not long ago, and now that he's nearly fully recovered and doesn't need my help anymore I'm gathering more to dry so I have them on hand if he relapses."

"Oh? What's wrong with him?" Naruto asked.

"He fell and broke his leg, a compound fracture, while cutting firewood," Haku lied smoothly, "It got infected."

"Oh, we'll I guess it's good that he's getting better," Naruto said, realizing that it was now imperative that he survived the encounter and carried back news to Kakashi of Zabuza's impending attack now that he was recovered. He couldn't just take off. If she was a hunter ninja she'd be able to tell he was anxious to get away and the game would be up.

"Would you like to help me?" Haku asked him sweetly.

"Umm okay!" he replied before rubbing the back of his head and giving a sheepish laugh, "I don't know much about herbs though."

"It's okay, I'll identify them for you, so you only need to help me pick them, okay?" Haku said with a smile. Naruto seemed like a really nice person. It was a bit disappointing that he had to be an enemy and their paths would inevitably cross in battle again. Hopefully she could just disable him. He seemed so bright and cheerful that she didn't think she had the heart to kill him. She giggled to herself. Most ninja from Kirigakure would have called her kindness weakness but it was one of the things Zabuza-sama said made her special.

Naruto followed her as she wandered through the forest. After a moment she knelt down after giving a loud, "Oh!" as she spotted an herb. Naruto used the opportunity where her back was turned to create a single kage bunshin which quickly hid itself under the genjutsu of the Kakuremino in case he needed an emergency replacement for extraction to help him escape quickly.

"Come here," Haku said looking back over his shoulder and waving him to her, "See this plant? It's called hairy cap moss. It's good for helping control inflammation and break a fever. I like it because it's really soft and the leaves tickle you when you pick it."

Naruto nodded rapidly as he looked carefully at the little patch of moss. They were amazingly tall, nearly half a meter tall with leaves with tiny serrated edges spiraling out from the base. The top half of the plant was just a bare stalk with a tiny capsule at the top of it. Naruto was fairly certain he recognized it from some of the bowl gardens he'd seen in Konoha.

"Now just pick them out carefully from all over. Just pinch your thumb and forefinger together near the base so you don't uproot them and be sure to only take about a fifth of the ones where you are," Haku instructed while smiling at him. Naruto couldn't help but blush under her gaze and Haku felt heat building on her cheeks at the same time before turning her head away. She chastised herself silently for blushing as she picked.

"I really appreciate your help Naruto-kun," she said over her shoulder.

"Thanks!" Naruto said with a laugh, "Hey you sure are out early in the morning."

"I could say the same. What were you working on?" Haku asked.

"I was training!" Naruto said with a grin as he adjusted his headband.

"Wow, that headband! You must be a ninja," Haku said with a dazzling smile, triggering another blush out of Naruto and turning her head to look away when she felt herself returning it.

"Yeah! I'm going to be really strong someday," Naruto said with a grin. The kunoichi in disguise was actually really likable and she didn't seem interested in any conflict. It seemed like their meeting really was an accident.

"So umm, you're training to become stronger? Why?" she asked as she leaned back on her heels to look at him.

"I'm trying to become the strongest ninja in my village, so people will finally respect me instead of looking down on me. I also want to prove myself to someone," Naruto said with a fierce expression as who he was talking to slipped his mind.

"So you're doing it for someone else?" Haku asked softly as she felt a strange kinship with the blond boy. It sounded like he understood what it was like to be rejected. The look on his face was just so serious and determined that she couldn't help but giggle.

"So you have someone important to you?" she asked softly as her mind flickered to the first time she had met Zabuza-sama. She had been lonely, filthy and hungry, working as a child whore in the dingy city before he'd claimed her for the blood that all others hated.

"Huh?" Naruto replied with a confused expression.

Haku rubbed her arms as she looked at the ground, "It's just… it's only when you have someone very important to you to protect that someone can truly become strong," she said in a bare whisper.

Naruto's mind immediately flickered to his memories of Iruka-sensei taking those wounds from Mizuki to protect him. The expression on Kakashi-sensei's face when he promised that he'd protect them with his life followed it. Even Inari, who was so hurt from this whole situation, came to mind, someone that he was fighting to protect.

"Yeah," he said softly, "I think I understand that."

Haku giggled as she stood up, "Then I'm sure you'll become very strong someday," she said as she turned away and started walking off, "Let's meet again sometime."

The thought rapidly popped into Naruto's mind about how much Kakashi-sensei would respect him if he managed to capture her, but a pang went through his chest at the thought of how underhanded and treacherous it would be since she just seemed to be willing to leave him be. Still, if she fought alongside Zabuza the next time they could really get killed. When she paused just beyond the branch that his invisible clone was perched on he made up his mind and quickly bit his thumb as he unrolled the scroll he'd finished the previous night and smeared the mixture of blood and chakra across both the main seal and the modified storage seal on it.

"By the way," she said as the seal flowed up onto Naruto's palm behind her back, "I'm a boy."

She didn't hear his clone dropping through the air behind him until it replaced itself with the real Naruto.

"No, you're a girl," Naruto said as he thrust his arm forward.

Haku's heart nearly stopped as she realized that the only way to know that was if she'd been viewed with the Byakugan. She spun while drawing a senbon that was tucked in her chest bindings before her eyes widened in horror. Strands of water nature chakra were manifesting from the seal on his palm and forearm and changed to high density water as it wrapped around her in Zabuza-sama's signature jutsu. She managed to gulp in a deep breath before it fully engulfed her.

She glared hatefully at him while she calmed her body and slowed her physiological functions to conserve oxygen. When it ran out she could burn chakra to keep herself alive, but that would only last for a half hour at most.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said sadly as be bit his lip, "I really am."

All he received in return was a glare. He turned and started running in the direction of Tazuna's home so he could get there before she ran out of air. He slowed as he entered the house and began shouting for Kakashi. Sakura shrieked as he entered the room.

"Naruto! What in the hell are you doing you idiot?" she shouted as Kakashi appeared in the room.

"I managed to catch the hunter ninja from yesterday," he panted breathlessly.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Kakashi asked as he eyed her over and realized that her hair and brown eyes matched what had been visible, and it was exactly the right length as what he had seen uncovered. She was also the exact height of the hunter ninja.

"Yes, I'm sure," Naruto said with a sigh, "What do I do now? I really don't want her to drown. She's not a bad person, Kakashi-sensei; it's just that I think Zabuza is really important to her."

Kakashi was about to open his mouth to say that that wasn't a reason to let a dangerous enemy live when Naruto continued.

"Besides, we might be able to learn something, and if she's really important to Zabuza he might make some sort of mistake if he thinks she's dead. If he doesn't make a mistake because of that we could bargain her exchange as a last resort in order to get him to kill Gatou," Naruto said as he thought furiously, trying to come up with a way to save her life, "Since he's a nukenin it won't cause any trouble for us, right?"

Haku's hateful glare at him only intensified at those words and he shot her an apologetic look.

Kakashi frowned before giving a permissive nod and removing a length of ninja wire before making a hand seal.

"Kanashibari no Jutsu [Art of the Body Bind]," he said aloud and Haku's body went rigid as her eyes flew open in shock, "Quickly, release it before she breathes in any water."

Naruto nodded and the jutsu collapsed with a splash, leaving Haku frozen in position on the floor while Kakashi quickly bound her in the specialized wire used for holding ninja. He was very thorough, using a special prisoner restraint he pulled from a seal. He fit it on her and and latched it closed around her neck and her hands and fingers as the seals on it glowed, preventing the expression of any chakra from her hands before repeating the process with her feet and binding her and ankles wrists tightly to it just for an extra layer of redundancy. With that finished he released the genjutsu and the stiffness faded.

"Zabuza-sama won't flinch from his duties," she hissed, "I mean nothing to him!"

"Naruto, take her up to the second floor," Kakashi said, "I will debrief you when I get up there."

Naruto nodded and lifted her by the waist and put her over his shoulder while she squirmed and tried to fight her way away. Kakashi unsealed a syringe and vial from a scroll and filled it before lifting her kimono and jabbing it into her butt cheek before pushing the plunger. She quickly stilled.

"I'll kill you," she hissed under her breath.

"What did you just do Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

"It's a special poison used to sedate prisoners. It requires too large of a dose to use in a fight on a weapon, but it forcibly prevents voluntary muscle contractions and the use of chakra to force a contraction without putting their life in danger or diminishing their ability to speak," he said as Naruto carried Haku up the stairs.

Kakashi rubbed his good eye. He really wanted to hear the story of how she was captured. There was also the issue of Sasuke going ballistic when he heard of her capture. He'd been glaring at Naruto for days while obsessing over the idea that Naruto was stealing his show. So far it had been mainly a matter of luck that had thrown things into Naruto's path.

He had to restrain a mirthless chuckle at how he must have completed the fuuinjutsu the previous night, just in time to use it to capture the kunoichi. The boy had luck in spades.

Upstairs Naruto laid Haku down on his bed and shifted her around so she'd be as comfortable as was possible.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I'm going to hunt you to the ends of the earth. No matter how far you run I'll find you. I'll never relent and you will get what you deserve," she hissed as she glared at the boy who had captured her from behind after she'd let him live. He had taken her from Zabuza-sama and now he was in danger because of her.

"I swear by Susanoo, god of storms and seas and all of the Blood Gods of the Mist," Haku vowed, "You will pay for this!"

"I'm sorry Haku-chan," Naruto said softly, "I didn't have any other choice."

She spat at him and missed, "I was going to spare you," she said with tears in your eyes, "When we fought next. You showed me kindness, and then you betrayed me!"

"I'm so sorry. I'll make sure that you'll be safe, that no one will hurt you," he said sadly.

"Just go you little bastard, go away!" she screamed and Naruto looked down at the floor before turning and walking out with moisture in his eyes. He felt worse than any amount of hateful glares from the villagers had ever made him feel. This time he knew he deserved her hate, especially after she'd been so nice to him. He sat down heavily outside the door and scrubbed his eyes furiously so that the others couldn't make fun of him for crying.

He saw a scowling Sasuke and a bewildered Sakura follow Kakashi-sensei up the stairs.

"I believe a debriefing is in order," Kakashi said with a stern expression, "And why have you left a prisoner unattended? Sakura, can you go in and keep watch over her?"

Sakura nodded as she walked in and Haku began screaming invectives at her immediately. As the door closed and she began to run out of steam she settled into glaring sullenly at the girl.

"When Zabuza-sama finds you he's going to cut you up slowly," Haku said with a malicious smile, "I think it will be good to see."

Sakura felt faintly queasy but just sat down and stared at her.

"I wonder if he'll just cut off your arms and legs so you can't struggle and turn you over to Gatou?" Haku said smugly, "He won't come for me. You should know that. Zabuza-sama is as strong as he is forged in the ice of the northern sea. I'm little more than a tool for him. No, he'll kill you because you dared to steal from him, rather than the value of what you've stolen."

Haku smirked, "I once watched him cut a child no older than ten's fingers off, joint by joint for stealing a slice of bread from him while he ate in an inn. I'm worth next to nothing to him, but he'll do the same to you," Haku said as Sakura shivered.

'It's obvious the pink haired girl had no spine, a bit more fright and she'll be less attentive, less willing to watch constantly,' Haku thought, 'Eventually she'll leave an opening to escape. Sharingan Kakashi can't be here all the time.'

"Shut up," Sakura said with a dismissive wave as she kept her nausea off her face, "I'm not buying your act."

Haku laughed, "I should hope not," she said softly, "It would be far less satisfying if you believed me. The shock on your face will be wonderful."

Sakura looked away from her and gave a dismissive sniff.

* * *

Zabuza stared at the clock in the room as he wrung his hands. She was late. She was _never_ late.

"Zabuza-sama," one of his men whispered as he arrived and knelt, holding out a bloody scrap of kimono, "This was what we recovered. The ground was soaked in blood."

"What happened?" Zabuza demanded as his hand clenched around the handle of his Kubikire Houchou.

"Our Reader confirmed that she was captured using your Suirou no Jutsu before she was killed. There's too much blood for it to be anything else and it tested positive for her kekkei genkai," the man said and when he felt the terrifying presence of Zabuza's chakra, laced with rage greater than he'd ever felt before, he bolted from the room as fast as possible, ripping two of his leg muscles to shreds in his desperation to escape.

"Sharingan Kakashi," Zabuza hissed as his eyes became merciless slits, "You use my own jutsu and take what is most precious from me. I will gut you like a fish and give your still bleeding corpse to your students. Tomorrow Kakashi… you will die."

* * *

The sudden cessation of the clacking of lacquered composite armor filled the air before the clop of hooves thundered forward and came to a turning stop as the blood red steed cried its superiority to the heavens atop the ridge. The loud clack of armor echoed in the pre-dawn light as a man covered in carefully crafted red Samurai full plate dismounted.

He turned to gaze down the hill before removing the blood red helm in the shape of the head of a dragon and tucked it under his arm, revealing a shaven head saved for a single topknot. The top of his bare scalp was covered in a myriad of twining gold, red, orange and black, intermingling dragons that trailed down and covered his face as he stared out at the tree line that marked the land immediately before Hi no Kuni met the northern sea.

His blood red eyes, absent of any white sclera or black pupil, flickered over the forest below and across the expanse of sea to glimpse the white bridge extending half way to the land in the pre-dawn light that matched the red of his armor. He licked his lips before sniffing the air and turning to look at the armored figures behind him.

Gathered in four columns ten men long stood the motionless soldiers he commanded. Their own armor was a slightly darker shade than his own, more reminiscent of blood than the fires of dawn. Their helms were featureless angular facades with no ornamentation save for a single white flame set above the eye slits that forty pairs of similarly red eyes stared back at him through. Each soldier gripped a spear of red metal that seemed nearly translucent save for the black etchings that ran along the haft and crept up the long and wickedly curved katana shaped blade at the top.

"The Shogun has ordered the destruction of all those who resist," the man said with brevity, as he licked his lips once more, "Target any who smell of the stench of false gods."

The roaring shout of "By the Will of Fire" roared from the soldiers as a clack sounded in perfect stereo as every fist slapped against the armor over their heart at once.

The captain sniffed the air once more and his eyes narrowed, "The ones who stink of black fire give them no quarter. Even if they surrender, remove their arms and legs so we can deal with them further at our leisure," he said before turning back toward the forest as he heard their voices echo behind him with a resounding "Hai Teichou [Captain]!"

The captain donned his helm once more before his fingers tightened around his own spear and with a movement like he possessed no bones and were nothing more than a tongue of flame ascending the length of the spear before landing in the saddle and pulling his bladed spear into its holster at his thigh. The horse screamed once more before setting a punishing pace that the infantry seemed to have no difficulty keeping up with as every foot fell in perfect timing.

* * *

Kakashi approached the bridge with care. His kage bunshin posted there the previous day had been dispelled carrying a message from Zabuza. He would begin massacring villagers unless he arrived shortly. He'd already begun killing those working on constructing the bridge. Apparently the ruse to destabilize the man had worked a little too well as there wasn't a glimpse of sanity in his bloodshot eyes.

When he reached the bridge Zabuza was standing alone at the end of it, surrounded by corpses. His footfalls slowly echoed on the surface as he walked out to meet the grief stricken man.

"Kakashi," Zabuza hissed in rage, "You took something very precious from me."

"You tried to take something very precious from these people," Kakashi said flippantly, "And now you've lost your own."

"No games Kakashi. On this bridge there is no place for us to sneak about, to hide," Zabuza screamed as spittle flew from his lips, "No more games! Give me my vengeance!"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he watched him heft his massive butcher knife and slid into a position, ready to move at any moment.

* * *

"He's coming you pink haired bitch," Haku sneered at Sakura, "He's lured your sensei out alone and he's probably already dead. Idiots. You've forgotten that Zabuza is one of the best assassins in the world, the premier expert in silent killing."

Sakura huffed in frustration and threw her hands in the air, "Whatever," before getting up and leaving, slamming the door behind her while heading downstairs for a glass of water. She needed something to ease her nerves over this whole business.

Haku smiled as she twitched her muscles. Her taunting this morning had caused the pink haired bitch to forget to dose her with the damned poison. She flexed briefly before shoving a spike of chakra into her limbs. The restraining wires snapped and she jerked her hands free of the yoke, scraping the flesh from them. After a brief moment to heal herself she opened the binder on her feet and slipped out of the bed.

She ran a hand over her shaved head, absent of the long raven hair Zabuza-sama had loved so much and scowled as she looked down at the blue open hospital gown she'd been dressed in when they took her kimono to trick Zabuza-sama with. She had to get to the bridge, which was where their sensei said Zabuza-sama was. She could help him kill Kakashi then come back for that blond haired white eyed bastard who tried to use her against her master. He would die screaming.

As she slipped out the window she couldn't help but think that the way he was so nice to her after they'd captured her only made it more humiliating. It only made his crime worse. Sins committed by a saint always left deeper stains than those of a sinner. He would pay.

She cursed as she heard the pink haired harpy who was always beating on the blond boy shriek about her escape and she bolted out across the water only to find her way blocked off by the same damned blond. She turned and took off towards the woods, back onto the land before she was halted by the dark haired boy and several clones of the blond.

"Haku, I can't let you go," Naruto said and Sasuke smirked.

"Maybe if we take your corpse to the bridge Zabuza will freak out and let his guard down," Sasuke said with a smirk as he stared at the bald girl.

Haku growled at him.

"Shut up Sasuke, I don't want to kill her," Naruto said and Sasuke just gave a non-committal grunt.

Haku's left hand blurred into motion and Naruto saw the chakra strands form and seals fall into place with blinding speed as water leapt from the nearby lake to form a hail of ice senbon flying at him.

* * *

The man in the dragon helm roared powerfully as he leapt from the saddle and pushed chakra into his spear, wreathing it in white flames as he descended like a thunderbolt from the sky. The flame flared as the blade of the spear penetrated the ground before flashing forward in a jagged line of white flame that lanced toward the gates of the Gatou Corporation compound. The gates flared and a visible array of glowing seals writhed on them as the flames met them and a barrier sprung up, trying to force the white flame back.

The captain of the Flamewatch Guard roared at the heavens as he forced more chakra into the spear and the chain of seals that was burning with power glowed even brighter as the barrier flickered and wavered for a moment before the white fire lanced through it and the gate exploded in a fiery inferno of destruction. The man seemed to flicker before he was back in the saddle and slapped his reigns as his horse screamed its rage alongside him and he began moving towards the open gates with the sound of his soldiers running full out behind him, still in perfect step as their footfalls shook the earth.

"For the glory of the Shogun! For the Honor of the White Sun! For the Shuuryuu no Sawa [Valley of the End]!" the captain roared, "No truce with the Shadow, no mercy for the Black Fire!"

As they neared the rent open and smoking gates a veritable hoard of men in slapped together armor with poorly cared for weapons emerged. The front rank of the Sixth division of the Flamewatch Guards dropped to their knee and braced their spears.

"Final Release: Rage of the Sun Throne!" they echoed as one and a chain of activated seals spiraled up their spears as a sphere of light gathered at the tip. The air pressure seemed to drop so rapidly many of the hired thugs clapped their hands to their ears as their eardrums popped and the captain's steed reared, it's hooves shod with the same translucent red metal flashing against the light of the rising sun.

The air pressure returned to normal as bars of pure white liquid fire spread outwards from the points of their spears, widening before flashing forwards into the ranks of thugs. The captain tugged the reins of his rearing steed to urge it out of the path of the white fire as it lanced through the bandit ranks and they seemed to flicker into photonegative before simply ceasing to be.

In the mess halls of the compound larders refilled as food became uneaten by men who ceased to exist, their lives burned from reality hours before the fire touched them.

The bars of light slapped against a line of black shields that were borne by ranks of men with bare chests and stylized cloud and sun tattoos in red and black ink on their chests. The bars of liquid fire splashed against the shields and dissipated. In their wake the bandits not struck by the beam of unreal fire screamed in terror as they recognized the signature white flame on the helms of the soldiers.

"Flamewatch Guards!" one of the bandits screamed as they broke ranks and ran in terror, desperate to escape the terrifying fanatics and the vengeful fist of the Shogun of Fire.

The front rank assumed sitting positions and breathed deeply as they grounded the butts of their spears and pressed the flame sigil on their helm to it. Streams of energy slid down the seals that had appeared on their armor and spread into a circle on the ground before a red tinted dome arose around each of them and they dropped into meditative positions and slipped little red pieces of cloth embroidered with a white flame from under their armor and removed a single pill from it before lifting it up under their face concealing helms and resuming a meditative pose once the cloth was placed back under their armor.

"Flamewatch Guard, Advance!" their captain shouted, "Further use of Sangaikaji [Flames of Past, Present and Future Existence] is forbidden."

The columns stepped to the sides and marched past the four meditating under barriers before falling back into their column formation the moment they'd passed them. The mercenaries became visible as the photonegative after image of the Sangaikaji faded. Eight large tower shields stood at the gap in the gates, each one covered in seals on the black surface, with red clouds and a half risen sun on it's smooth black surface.

"For the Glory of the Many God! For the Glory of the Red Dawn! For the Eternal Empire!" a man with barbed wire tattoos spiraling up his left arm shouted as he threw his shield aside and ripped his eye patch free. His right eye opened to reveal a solid black orb, a poignant counterpoint to the eyes of the Flamewatch guard. The other seven threw away their shields as more mercenaries with similar tattoos boiled out, nearly three times the number of the assembled Flamewatch guards.

As the red steed's hooves touched the ground it tore forward as both lines surged to meet in a clash of steel and rage.

* * *

Mist flowed upward and began choking the air of the bridge.

"Don't think I haven't figured out how your freaky eye works," Zabuza's enraged voice echoed around him, "I don't need to see to kill you, and with that freaky eye unable to hypnotize me… I'll cut it out of your skull!"

Only decades of experience, paranoia, and the hairs on his neck standing on end made him roll to the side just as the blade flashed out of the mists, passing through the place his neck had been moments ago. Kakashi knew his Sharingan wouldn't be much help, but he didn't have his students to worry about at the moment.

His eyes flickered around him in the mist, keeping a keen watch for any shadow in the mere meter of visibility he had. His ears would never catch Zabuza coming. His mind flickered along like lightning as he catalogued his options. The stone and steel of the bridge would be impossible for him to hide in without an earth manipulation. The water beneath erased any advantage he had in Zabuza's lack of that manipulation. Lightning and fire were his best options available, as he'd only just begun developing a fourth manipulation, a nearly impossible task considering the difficulty increased with each additional one.

He frowned and his hands flashed through hand seals, forming a group of kage bunshin and Mizu Bunshin using the water in the air rather than placing the excess strain on his own chakra. It only managed to give him a few extra feet of visibility, but it was something. It took only seconds though for it to fill back in thicker than ever.

His mental link to his Mizu Bunshin showed him Zabuza's red faced glare as it was decapitated and he moved in that direction. With Zabuza this angry the fight should be a short one.

A kage bunshin dispelled as Kakashi made more Mizu Bunshin to confuse Zabuza. He could only track him by sound, and with dozens of other moving bodies he would have to work through them one at a time to find him.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu! [Water Release: Art of the Great Waterfall]," Zabuza shouted as he performed the jutsu that had nearly been his death in their previous encounter. At this point he didn't care if Kakashi heard his death approaching.

Kakashi's eyes went wide as the dim light in the mist suddenly darkened with the sound of rolling water.

'He doesn't care if he dies as long as he takes me with him!' he realized in shock before whipping a set of seal tags from his flak jacket and slapping them in five points around him before flying through hand seals. The seals on the tags spread and a purple dome sprang up over him just as the roaring wave crashed down overhead. Kakashi gaped as he saw full grown sharks carried past him in one of the largest waves he'd ever seen.

His clones were crushed by the implacable wave as thousands of tons of water crashed on them. The last image his final kage bunshin gave him was of Zabuza slashing his blade downward as blue seals lit up along its length and the water divided in front of him, leaving him untouched. Kakashi grimaced. He should have expected his blade to have some unknown properties. All of the other Seven Swords possessed such abilities.

As the water faded leaving several bodies of the construction workers pressed against the far edge of the bridge and Zabuza glaring at him in rage as his protective barrier fell.

'There's too much water for the endgame I'd planned to work,' Kakashi mused as he looked at the inches of water on the bridge that was draining off the end, making it hard to maintain balance. His feet rose to the surface of the water and he continued to sidestep as the water flowed toward the end so he maintained his position.

"Am I going to wait forever to see something that can impress me Zabuza? For the Demon of the Mists you're pretty pathetic," Kakashi said as his hands flew into seals while Zabuza covered the bridge in mist once more.

Kakashi smirked. A little moisture in the air wasn't going to stop what was coming as he tugged down his mask and brought his fingers to his lips, blowing a stream of fire outward that thickened very quickly into the form of a roaring dragon of flame. Out in the open like this there wasn't much recourse but to clash in a battle of power and techniques. Subtlety was nearly impossible for someone without an earth manipulation in a place like this, and he didn't want to take the confrontation to the water once more after Zabuza's demonstration in the last fight.

As the dragon of flame shrieked, an extremely powerful Karyuudan [Flame Dragon Missile], the mist boiled off and revealed Zabuza completing his own jutsu and a dragon of water arose and clashed into the fire dragon. Kakashi's hands flashed through seals as it overcame his own dragon and a bolt of lightning flew from his hand into the gaping mouth of the Suiryuudan [Water Dragon Missile]. Lightning traveled through it with blinding speed, arcing across the water that covered the bridge save for where the high heat of his fire technique had evaporated the water where Kakashi was standing.

Zabuza screamed and the Suiryuudan dissipated as Kakashi leapt up to avoid the now shapeless mass of water as it crashed down. As he landed in the water once more he glared at Zabuza whose leg was smoking and smelled of burnt flesh.

"I'll kill you," Zabuza hissed as he stumbled and caught himself with his blade and brought up the mist again. This time it was so strong Kakashi couldn't see his own hand in front of him and his feet were on dry ground, all of the water now hanging thickly in the air.

"Finally," he whispered as he pulled a scroll from his jacket and bit his thumb before wiping it down the length of the scroll, rolling it back up with a snap then forming a tora [tiger] hand seal with the scroll clutched tightly. A pulse of chakra later and his hands moved into the image of the hebi [snake] seal, then the dragon, before stopping on the dog seal as his single eye crinkled in a mirthless smile before he slammed the scroll to the ground.

"Ninpou Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu [Ninja Art: Summoning: Earth Release: Art of the Tracking Fang]," he whispered aloud in order to fix the particularly difficult intent of the jutsu in his mind. Even with the stored matter to chakra conversion in the scroll, much like Naruto's Suirou Fuuin, managing an elemental variation of a personal summoning required incredible focus that he couldn't quite grasp completely without some form of vocalization.

Seals spread out from his hands, moving around for a moment before arcing of in the distance. The sound of stone breaking into gravel and loud barks preceded the dissipation of the mist and a furious Zabuza. Dogs of various sizes, the Hatake clan's ningen [human] hunting hounds, had their jaws clamped onto his limbs, piercing and shredding his muscles and holding him down.

"How?" Zabuza whispered softly as Kakashi approached.

"The smell of burnt flesh," Kakashi said before tilting his head toward the smoking corpses of the construction workers who had been caught in his earlier lightning attack as well, but were already thankfully dead, "That is one smell I can easily visualize. You're the only piece of burnt meat on this bridge that's still moving."

"Is this it?" Zabuza asked as he stared at Kakashi and his rage seemed to leach from his body, "Is Haku really dead?"

Kakashi just looked at the man with a sympathetic expression.

"Hey Hatake, do you think a man can atone for his sins while living in hell?" Zabuza asked as Kakashi's hand crackled with electricity and he lifted his headband and dashed forward. As his arm punched through Zabuza's chest he whispered in his ear.

"Yes Zabuza, I think they can. It's the only hope people like us can cling to," Kakashi said as the life left Zabuza's eyes and he slumped to the ground.

* * *

"Whoa-oh-oh… Whoa-oh-oh," Waraji sang in his harsh baritone as his blade wreathed in black fire met the haft of a spear wreathed in white fire, "Gods never look where they tread…"

The song began to spread amongst the ranks of the mercenaries who were struggling against the Flamewatch Guards. Though the red armored soldiers were heavily outnumbered they had a level of discipline that was phenomenal, acting almost as a single living creature. When one spear point fell back two others replaced it, fending away the person going for the kill.

"Always their heavy steps fall," the mercenaries near Waraji sang as they took up the war song of their mercenary company, the Fuka Chuutai [Bad Company], "On our bellies our hearts and our heads."

Waraji spun as his blade slashed at blinding speed across the red dragon helm which flared as it's fuuinjutsu resisted the attack and the black flame on Waraji's blade flickered out of vision, as did the Flamewatch Teichou's [Captain's] white flames.

"Gods never hear when we call!" more mercenaries joined in as a blinding flurry of sparks flew through the air as blue steeled katana clashed with the spinning red haft of the spear as he tried to close to range.

"They simply pass by and that is all!"

"Whoa-oh-oh, Whoa-oh-oh!" Waraji shouted as he stutter-stepped in so fast that he was inches away as he drop low and spun, trying to cut the man's legs from under him. The dragon helmed man leapt a full sixty feet in the air while channeling chakra into his spear and the top half separated from the bottom and the formerly smooth haft in between warped into a katana just as wickedly sharp as the other that the head of the spear had become.

The man exerted his wind natured chakra as he drew his arms into his body, accelerating his rotation into a blinding spin as he came to face head downward toward the earth and his blades came alight. The soldiers under his command looked up and immediately leapt away to reform as he began descending with both blades crossed.

"We are forgotten ones we, to little to love or to hate!" Waraji screamed defiantly as he stared at the man as he reached his zenith and seemed to kick off open air as his rotation increased even faster, becoming little more than a pillar of white wind fed flame that was already withering the grass on the ground.

"Leave us alone and you'll see," Waraji said as a crazy grin spread across his face, "If we can storm heaven's gate!"

His blade snapped upward as the pillar of rotating flame crashed down on him, engulfing him in a retina searing conflagration before the energy exploded outward from its epicenter, forcing all those present to stick themselves to the ground with chakra. The entire battle stopped as the smoke cleared and a crater of black glass became visible as the winds that were picking up from the massive temperature changes on the battlefield billowed it away.

As it cleared completely Waraji and his opponent became visible. Waraji's cloud and sun tattoo had spread over his entire body in glowing symbols that sucked in the ambient light as his upheld blade throbbed, sucking in light all the same.

The dragon helmed man stumbled back as his helm cracked and slid forward, displaying the missing lower half of his jaw and the bared bone of his skull as the shreds of muscle remaining caused his red eye to twitch morbidly in its socket.

"Infidel," the captain hissed as his left arm slid off and a smirk spread across his face, "Ameterasu will wash our souls clean in the lye soap from the ashes of your heresy."

He lifted his remaining blade as the seals flared and stabbed it through his own breastplate.

Waraji's solid black eye seemed to drain of its onyx color, replaced by a normal eye that matched his left one. His pupils dilated as the man burst into flame and the men of the Flamewatch Guard lifted their voices in ecstasy as white smoke rolled from their armor alongside tongues of flame. A massive seal array spread outward from each of them linking together into one massive symbol.

Waraji channeled every ounce of remaining chakra into his leg muscles, feeling them shred and his bones crush as he leapt away. A ball of fire so intense that it nearly blinded him through closed eyelids rose and spread, consuming the entirety of the Gatou Corporation compound. Waraji screamed voicelessly as he felt its heat searing his flesh as it rose into the sky, brighter than the sun itself before dissipating, leaving a huge mushroom shaped pillar of smoke behind.

Waraji's eyes opened as he saw the rocks at the edge of the sea approaching him as he plummeted, unable to break his fall. There was a bone breaking crunch as he impacted and his world disappeared. Nothing but the sound of fires accompanied his slide into the sea and the soft splash his body made.

* * *

"You'll slip eventually," Haku taunted the pair beneath her from the vantage point of her mirrors of ice. Sasuke glared at her with narrowed red eyes, two tomoe [comma shaped mark] spinning in one of them and one in the other. Both of them were covered in several puncture wounds.

"You're slowing down already," Haku hissed as her fury mounted and she heard the crash of high powered techniques from the direction of the far away bridge, "How much longer do you think you can keep them away from your vitals? I'm tired of this, let's end it."

"No good," Naruto muttered, "We can't keep up… if I can just."

"I'm starting to be able to see her," Sasuke grunted in frustration, "But I just can't move fast enough."

Naruto's eyes tracked all of Haku's naked reflections in the mirrors, her gown having been lost minutes ago. He was looking for some twitch, some indication… THERE!

He saw the surface of one of the mirrors ripple slightly and he surged as much chakra into his legs in as fast of a pulse as he could to get enough speed to intercept. His scream as it did horrific damage was ear splitting but he rocketed upward with blinding speed. He only had time to see Haku's eyes widen from inches away before his forehead struck hers and everything went dark.

Sasuke stared at the two limp forms lying on the ground with a vein ticking in his forehead as the mirrors melted.

"That was so anti-climactic it wasn't funny," he groaned, "How fucking lame, a super powered head butt? That's it? Sakura, take Naruto inside."

Sakura was pale faced as she stared at her crush that was pulling bloody and rapidly melting needles from himself before she nodded and obeyed. Sasuke sneered down at Haku as he hefted her body and dragged her off before throwing her bonelessly to the ground.

"You think you're tough shit," he sneered, "You're not. The idiot brought you down. He's not tough shit either. I heard his leg muscles tear, he won't be able to walk for weeks."

He kicked her unconscious body in the side. He stared down at her naked body and felt himself hardening before sneering.

"Like hell you bitch," he muttered, fighting away the urge that arose as he pinned her arms down with his knees in case she awoke and drew a kunai, "This is for my personal satisfaction."

Laid the blade against her throat and was about to jerk it across when her eyes flew open in terror and he smirked down at her as she struggled. She may be fast, but she wasn't nearly as strong as he was, especially sticking himself down with chakra with her arms pinned under him.

"It looks like it's you who's going to die," Sasuke said with a smirk as his arm muscles bunched up to make the slash.

"Stop," Kakashi ordered from behind him and Sasuke heard a thud, "It's over."

Sasuke eased away from her neck with a disgusted look then spit on her face before getting off. Haku looked over at the corpse Kakashi had set down and her eyes filled with tears. Seeing Zabuza-sama's body seemed to simply drain away any resistance she felt. There wasn't a point in vengeance anymore.

"Just kill me," she whispered but the jounin who'd killed Zabuza motioned the black haired prick away from her, denying her the chance to atone. It was entirely that blond bastard's fault!

"I'm going to dispose of the body," Kakashi said as he walked over and stuck yet another damned needle into her. She didn't even feel like resisting as he pushed the plunger and her body began to feel heavy and her eyes drooped closed.

"Take her back to the house," Kakashi ordered and Sasuke glared at her but picked up her ankles, rather than carrying her body and dragged her back toward Tazuna's home.

Kakashi turned towards Zabuza with a sigh, "Let's see what your body can tell me," he said softly as he began his work.

Less than thirty seconds later he realized something was horribly wrong and his heart flopped over in his chest. There was only residue from a single jutsu on this body, and it had been used on it, rather than by it.

"Shikon no jutsu [Art of the Dead Soul]," Kakashi muttered as his fingers moved along the jaw line and he felt the telltale stitches before touching the skin of the face carefully and groaning.

"Shit… He removed his actual face and used it on an animated corpse to escape," Kakashi muttered, "I can't believe this guy."

He shook his head, "He should be half dead anyway and entirely out of chakra. This was one of the fishermen. If he was hiding as one of them he got hit even worse by my lighting attack earlier. He's in no shape for any sort of fight anytime soon. And I have his sword," he said before forming the hand seals for a high powered Katon [fire release] jutsu and mumbling, "No sense in letting anyone worry over it right now."

* * *

Giichi the construction worker stumbled to his feet as smoke rolled off of him. He groaned heavily as he tried to think of what happened. His skin was horribly burnt and he had a huge swelling on his skull. He groaned as his legs gave way and he lost his footing, stumbling on the beach near the huge bridge. He knew there was something important about that bridge; it seemed to stand out in his mind.

He saw two or three other people floating nearby and pulled them up onto the beach, his motions wooden and shaky as he checked pulses and gave a sigh of relief before trying to resuscitate the pair that still had heartbeats. Once the other two, burnt just as badly as he, were breathing again the pain washed over his mind and he lost consciousness once more.

* * *

[AN: Hope you enjoyed the small taste of the expansions to the setting I'll be working with]


	9. Chapter 9

[AN:] Glad you seemed to like some of the expansions. Right now I'm just trying to get them deliniated without overwhelming the plot of the story. I'm still several chapters ahead of what I'm publishing, but I'm trying to pace it so it doesn't overwhelm my other obligations. I'm glad so many seem to like it, and I'm very thankful for the constructive criticism. It may not be adopted immediately, but expect to see tweaks several chapters from now to slowly move it into a more consistant, or at least stable place. I apologize for the low quality it's been and the oversights and plea a bit of distraction from other sources. It's a reason, not an excuse. With the slower posting rate, expect to see the quality go up when the already written chapters have all come out and we're into the new stuff.

* * *

Haku's eyes flew open and her breath seized in her chest. She sat bolt upright with her hand over her heart when she saw him sitting in the chair across the room. Her eyes instantly narrowed.

"What do you want?" she hissed before the memory of seeing Zabuza's dead body flooded back into her and her shoulders sagged as her defiance fled, "Why haven't you killed me?"

"I was waiting for you to wake up," Naruto said softly with a sad expression on his face as he stood before kneeling down and pressing his face to the floor, "Haku-san, I beg your forgiveness."

Her nose twitched in disgust.

"I'll never forgive you Uzumaki Naruto. You've taken away the only thing I've ever had. You've destroyed my only happiness," she said coldly, "No, I will not forgive you."

For some reason he refused to lift his forehead from the floor and she huffed and turned her head away. The gall of that bastard. She bit her lip to choke back the tears that threatened and scrubbed her eyes with her sleeve. As she pulled her arm back her eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't wearing the stupid hospital gown anymore. Now she was wearing a soft felt pair of pajamas in the worst orange color imaginable.

"What's going to happen to me?" she asked softly. It wasn't like there was any point in running. She didn't have anywhere left to run.

"I pleaded with Kakashi-sensei to let you free but he says you're too high risk at the moment," Naruto said and Haku felt a bit of vindictive satisfaction when she heard him choke back a sob, "I'm so sorry. Kakashi-sensei says that we'll be taking you back to Konoha with us."

Haku sniffed softly, "So I'm to be breeding stock for the Leaf," she said in a nearly lifeless voice.

Naruto gasped in horror and she squashed any sense of pity she might have felt from hearing him sob.

"Never!" he insisted, "I'll do something! I'll talk to Jiji! I'll make sure that doesn't happen!"

She gave a derisive snort. Everyone knew what places like Konoha, Kumo and Iwa did when they captured kekkei genkai carriers. If they weren't in the village's bingo book and had someone to vouch for them, they let them join their village after a probationary period. Otherwise they were kept under lock and key, never allowed to leave the village, churning out bloodline carrying bastards through arranged marriages until they were used up. There wasn't any sense in fleeing, as unlike Kirigakure, they put special effort into hunting down their nukenin with kekkei genkai and had nearly impeccable success records. They wouldn't even kill her for fleeing. They'd just drag her back and turn her into a blood slut.

"Oh really? What will the mighty Uzumaki do for me?" she mocked, "You told the brat that nearly everyone in your village hated you. How do you expect to have any hand in my fate you sanctimonious jackass?"

"I'll talk to Jiji, he's the Hokage, I promise," Naruto said and Haku snorted again before lying back down and turning to face the wall.

"Get up;" she said in a harsh voice, "It's sickening to hear you whine."

She thought morbidly of what Zabuza-sama would say if he saw her now. She definitely didn't feel like being gentle and kind. She just didn't care anymore. Her only desire was to make the blond bastard's life a living hell, like he'd made hers. She felt a slight relief when she heard him get up, but that was cut short by the door opening.

"Naruto, is she up yet? We've got to go," Kakashi said as he glanced at Haku, "She's your duty, get her moving."

The door shut again as he left.

"Haku-san, please, you need to get up and around," Naruto pleaded.

"I'm not going to," Haku said with a smirk at the wall, "If you expect me to go with you, you better carry me on your own shoulders because I'm not about to walk to a place I don't want to go to."

The petty spitefulness did nothing to ease the gaping hole in her chest, but at least it gave her a touch of satisfaction as she heard him sigh in frustration. Her eyes widened as she was suddenly lifted from the bed and he hefted her over his shoulder.

"Put me down you prick!" she screamed and punched him in the back of the thigh, making his leg buckle as a ragged gasp tore its way from his throat.

When he dropped to one knee it knocked the air out of her and what's worse, he apologized for it as he struggled back to a standing position with shaky legs. It was obvious that he had torn something with his stupid super-headbutt that knocked her out. He was just trying to rub it in her face.

"Feel good?" she said acerbically, "Because until you finally give up and kill me, this is what every moment of your life will be like. I'm going to make you pay with every breath I have."

Naruto groaned and shifted her around to carry her bridal style and she glared at him for the indignity.

"If that's what it takes for you to forgive me, fine," he said with a defeated expression.

Her nose curled up. It wasn't like anyone important to him had died.

"You're a total bastard," she said and spat in his face. She resisted the urge to growl when he didn't even respond beyond wiping it off on his shoulder and biting his lip as he limped her out the door and down the stairs.

"Why are you carrying her?" Sasuke asked with a glare.

"Because she refused to walk someplace she didn't want to go," Naruto said softly. He felt horrible about the whole ordeal. She'd been so nice to him and then he'd done what was turning out to be the one thing he regretted more than anything else. He could only imagine how angry he'd be if someone he was nice to betrayed him and captured him before killing his sensei, or even worse, Ayame-chan or Teuchi-Jiji before dragging him off to some foreign village.

"Then just drag her. She'll decide to walk quickly enough that way," Sasuke said with a shrug and Sakura bit her lip while watching the exchange.

"It's fine, I'll just carry her," Naruto said, lowering his head.

"I'm right here you retard," Haku said and her lips twitched in satisfaction when she actually got a response out of that.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said directly to her, "I'll carry you."

"Whatever," she said before staring up at the sky.

"Let's get moving. We've got to get back to Konoha now that the situation's been resolved. I checked out Gatou's compound. Now it's just a smoking crater," he said with a grimace. It didn't bode well for the squadron of soldiers the Shogun sent. The area was still burning with unquenchable white flames, though they didn't spread, seemingly ignoring the blustery wind.

Haku shivered as the wind in question kicked up once more and she saw that there was nearly a foot of snow on the ground and the sky was dark and heavy, with a cyclonic storm front off toward the mainland hovering over an area that seemed to be sending up a haze of ash and hot air.

"Are you cold?" Naruto asked her and she glared at him.

"Does it look like I'm burning to death?" she sneered and he pulled out a scroll with one hand while trying not to drop her and unsealed his last surviving orange jacket, the only one that hadn't been stolen and put it over her. That made her feel sick to her stomach as she realized whose pajamas she was wearing.

Kakashi watched the exchange silently as they marched off toward where the boat was to take them back across to the mainland.

* * *

"Umm, Haku-san, why do you seem to hate Naruto so much?" Sakura asked quietly as Naruto screamed and jerked his shoe off then tugged a bloody thorn out of his foot as Haku smirked, "Kakashi-sensei was the one who killed Zabuza."

Haku shrugged, "It's that retard's fault, this whole thing. Kakashi was just doing the inevitable," she said with a sigh, "Then he acts so pathetic about it, after he captured me from behind when I was going to let him go without killing him. He's the most disgusting, cowardly, stupid, vile human being I know."

Sakura just gave an uneasy smile at the girl. Her hair had grown out a little in the two days since they'd left Nami no Kuni; it looked like she had a thin layer of fuzz over her entire head. Sakura wasn't sure how to cope with the other girl. She didn't try to resist them, but she did everything she could to spite Naruto by inches. Then again that was the only time she seemed alive. When she wasn't making his life hell she just sort of stared off into the distance.

Haku wasn't the only thing getting to Sakura. Naruto seemed to be different when Haku was around, like someone had killed his pet or something. He wasn't goofy, he wasn't cheery, and it was even more annoying than usual.

This stupid mission had even put space between her and Sasuke-kun. He seemed angry all the time now when she tried to talk with him. She knew he would get over it eventually, whatever it was, but it hurt. He spent more time glaring at Naruto and Haku and hardly ever spared a glance at her. She was just glad that they were only a few minutes out from Konoha and everything would go back to normal soon. It was a lot faster moving at a ninja pace rather than a walk to get home.

Naruto approached and bent down to pick up Haku when she pushed him away and straightened the shorts she'd gotten from Sakura and Naruto's black t-shirt that fit very poorly.

"Don't touch me, retard," she said viciously, "I have legs, I can walk."

"But you said…"

"Retard, don't you understand speech? I said I'd walk," Haku said before crossing her arms and glaring at him while his shoulders slumped.

Naruto gathered up his nearly empty pack and fell into position slightly behind Haku as they began moving forward at a light jog, only about twenty or so miles an hour. Kakashi-sensei had kept him on 'guard' duty the entire while, and Haku had been fulfilling her promise to make every waking moment of his life hell. He winced as he was too slow to duck a branch she'd pulled back as she passed and it whipped across his face, cutting a line on his cheek.

He wasn't sure why he was doing what he was anymore. It had gone past any feeling of self-punishment after the first day. He still felt horribly guilty every time he looked at her brown eyes and the dark fuzz on the top of her head, a silent accusation that it was entirely his fault that she had lost her precious person. But even though he didn't feel the urge to inflict punishment on himself he still put up with it.

It was mean, spiteful, but it was acknowledgement. It was completely different from any hate he'd experienced before, one where someone just wants you to stop existing. Haku had made it painfully apparent that she _wanted_ him to exist so that he could suffer more for what he'd done. It was a twisted form of acknowledgement, but she saw him for Naruto, and hated him for it, rather than as any demon fox like the villagers.

He'd resolved to somehow make it better though. He was determined to outlast her anger and become her friend if it took forever to accomplish. Even if he didn't feel any relief from her continual punishment anymore, it was the least he could do. At least it seemed like she had a purpose when she was angry at him. Seeing her just sort of drift when it became obvious she was thinking about Zabuza was like a punch to the gut. It seemed as though she didn't really have any reason to live anymore, save to make his life a personal hell.

The gates of Konoha approached quickly and to Naruto's surprise there was an escort of Anbu waiting there. Kakashi who had been fairly silent on the return trip back motioned to Sakura and Sasuke.

"Tomorrow at the same time as usual, near the bridge," Kakashi said, "I'll bring the payments."

Sasuke just grunted and turned, walking off into the village.

"Hey Sasuke-kun, wait up! Now that we're back in Konoha…" Sakura called out, her voice being quickly lost as Sasuke tried to put distance between them and she refused to be left behind.

"Hatake-_san_," an Anbu in a Goshawk mask said making a waving motion toward the Hokage tower deeper in the village, "Hokage-sama has requested your presence and that of your guest. Are you sure _he_ is needed as well?"

Kakashi just gave the Anbu member a flat stare with his visible eye before he turned to Naruto and waved him to follow. Several of the man's fellow Anbu seemed to express silent displeasure at their comrade's attitude, their eyes hardening inside their masks. Haku fell right in with them while walking through the streets. Seeing the foreign village made her feel cold all over. No deeper proof of Zabuza-sama's death could be provided than standing in the middle of this place. It was as unlike her homeland, or any of the places Zabuza-sama preferred to visit as possible. Even in the early March air it was warm, warm and quite a bit drier than other places Zabuza-sama had frequented.

The streets swarmed with people going about their business as they walked through the village. She couldn't help but notice the looks the blond bastard got from the villagers, as though he were some sort of stain upon the pride of their village. Like a particularly nasty disease.

She glanced at the jerk in question and found him staring at the ground as they walked rather than meeting the villager's eyes. How pathetic. A ninja afraid to glare down mere villagers. In Kirigakure if a villager ever looked at a ninja like that they'd probably never look anywhere again.

It was strange though, how quite a few younger ninja seemed to look at him the same way. However the closer they drew to the tower that was their destination the less frequent the glares became, and as the reached the tower proper some of the looks were mostly of pure interest, untainted by disdain. Sharingan Kakashi led them up the winding stairs of the tower before they stopped in a small waiting room for a moment. It didn't take long at all for the doors to swing open and she followed the blond bastard in.

Sitting behind a desk was none other than the Sandaime Hokage, his wrinkled face and wreath of grey hair unmistakable to anyone who had seen his entry in the bingo book. The one thing the bingo book hadn't properly described though was his sheer _presence_. It was as though he wasn't just sitting in the room, but rather that by his presence alone he _occupied_ the room.

"Kakashi-san," Sarutobi said with a quirked eyebrow as he removed his pipe from between his teeth and rubbed its stem with his thumb, "I assume this is the guest you mentioned?"

Kakashi nodded briefly, and Haku couldn't help but wonder how much of the Kirigakure propaganda about the Leaf being 'weak' and 'tender' was just propaganda. She could feel the palpable aura of power filling the room and the sheer deference that Sharingan Kakashi felt for the old man.

"Haku-san, do you have a surname?" Sarutobi said while pointing at her with the stem of his pipe.

"No," she said softly as she felt his intensity surround her.

"I'm presented with a difficult situation, Haku-san," Sarutobi said as he tucked the stem of his pipe back between his teeth, "I'm presented with a young girl with a bloodline of significant use to Konoha, but of dubious trustworthiness."

Haku kept her lips shut as he peered at her.

"So I am left with the question of what exactly I'm to do with you," Sarutobi said with a frown on his face, "Considering most ninja in this village would not be particularly willing to offer sponsorship to a kunoichi from Kirigakure, regardless of whether or not you were registered there."

Haku's eyes dropped to stare at her feet. This was one of the things she'd been dreading the entire trip.

"Sponsorship?" the blond bastard asked as he looked curiously at the Hokage.

"Yes Naruto, sponsorship," Sarutobi said as he shifted a few papers on his desk, "If Haku-san wishes to attempt to join Konoha she will require a sponsor, who will vouch for her loyalty for the entirety of the probationary period. During that time any misdeeds she performs will be as though the sponsor performed them. It's also the sponsor's duty to cover living expenses until the probationary period has ended. Otherwise…"

Naruto frowned as he glanced over at Haku who was staring at the floorboards. He'd offer to sponsor her, but he was worried that if he did she'd do something to ruin his chances as a ninja. Her head came up at her eyes met his in a glare of challenge.

"Otherwise what?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"Otherwise she will remain at civilian status and placed in governmental observational housing until a suitable civilian position can be found for her," Sarutobi said with a sigh, "A necessary precaution."

Haku swallowed hard.

"So umm, a sponsor?" Naruto asked, "What exactly does that mean?"

"If she can obtain a sponsor she will essentially remain under house arrest unless her sponsor or a ninja of chuunin rank or higher is present. A probationary period of six months is required at which time she may join the ninja ranks under observation by a jounin sensei," Sarutobi said, "As she has no official rank she would become a genin."

"I'll do it," Naruto said and Haku's eyes widened in surprise, "It's my fault anyway, so I'll do it."

Sarutobi quirked an eyebrow at him, "Very well then, I'll have the paperwork filled out," he said, a tiny smile on his lips, "Haku-san, I trust you have no objections over living in governmental subsidized projects for now?"

Haku shook her head, grateful for any opportunity to avoid the alternative.

"Then," Sarutobi said as he shuffled some paperwork around and looked down at it, "I am assigning you room 304 in the development at 3100 Red Street."

"Wait!" Naruto said with wide eyes, "That's the empty suite next door! We'd share a bathroom!"

"Is there a problem with this?" Sarutobi asked with a quirked eyebrow and Naruto shook his head.

"Very well then," Sarutobi said, "It should be open to you at any time. The rent is low and it will be put into forbearance until you begin taking missions and can repay it."

"Thank you Hokage-sama," Haku said with a small bow. It wasn't a bad thing in her opinion. It would be easier to make his life hell, even when he was at home for the evening. It couldn't have been more perfect.

"Umm," Naruto said, eyeing Haku nervously, "Thanks Jiji, I think."

Sarutobi nodded with the corners of his lips twitching upward, "I think that will be all. Haku-san, be aware that there will be an unseen Anbu escort about you at all times to ensure that you do not break the terms of your probationary period," he said, "Otherwise, you are both dismissed."

After the two left the room Sarutobi gave a small chuckle, "I see what you were speaking of," he said as Kakashi sagged into a seat.

"I think it will be good for him, to have a friend his age," Kakashi said with a laugh, "I think that her little cruelties toward him are more just so that she feels alive at this point."

Sarutobi nodded, "I trust your instincts Kakashi. If you say she can be an asset, I can act on that assumption. I just hope she doesn't do anything to endanger Naruto by her actions. He's already in a precarious enough position as it is," he said with a glance at the door they'd left through.

"I think it will be good for the both of them," Kakashi said with a shrug, "Team Seven is starting to come apart at the seams anyway. If he at least has one person his age, well other than Gai's student…"

Kakashi shuddered before continuing, "Then I think he'll be able to weather it. He's surprisingly durable emotionally," he said with a nod, "He's held up very well under the stress."

* * *

'I wonder if I can jump off the apartment roof and end it now,' Naruto whined in his head as he limped along, Haku's innocent whistling accompanying the bruising on his shin.

"I don't know why I'm doing this," Naruto grumbled in frustration as he dodged out of the way of a food cart that the owner hadn't been particularly careful about avoiding him with, "You're crazy, and you've promised to make my life hell… what's to stop you from screwing up and getting me in trouble?"

Haku smirked, "Unless it's a way I can screw up enough to both leave you alive and tormented forever," she said, ceasing her innocent whistling, "Then it's really not an option. If I break this probation I won't be there to make sure you get what you deserve."

Naruto groaned softly. He'd tried to be repentant for the entire trip back, but it became obvious that she wasn't going to forgive him anytime soon and he wasn't about to mope over it forever. It just wasn't his style.

"Whatever," Naruto said as they turned off toward one of the less cleanly areas of the village, "What's wrong with you anyway? You were so nice before…"

Haku sniffed at him, "Before I was nice because I thought you were a nice person," she said with a scowl, "Now I know the truth."

"Look, you can't hate me forever, it just isn't possible," Naruto said after they'd walked for several minutes in silence.

"I think I can," Haku said, "You make it surprisingly easy."

"Ugh," Naruto groaned as he opened the door of the apartment and she used the opportunity to step on his heel, making him trip and tumble to the floor.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted as Haku just walked past him and up the dingy stairs, forcing him to hurry and catch up.

She was standing in front of the door of her apartment with a frown when he caught back up with her.

"I don't have a key," she said and Naruto shrugged and opened the door to his apartment.

"You can go through mine for now," he said as he flicked the lights on and pointed at the bathroom that connected the two rooms, "I'll talk to Kakashi-sensei about it tomorrow."

He watched silently as Haku walked through the bathroom into her new apartment before walking back out. It wasn't until she'd grabbed his futon and begun to drag it toward the bathroom that he shouted in indignation.

"What do you think you're doing?" he groused in frustration.

"There isn't any furniture there," she said, shooting him a challenging glare.

Naruto met it with equal intensity, "That doesn't mean you can steal mine!" he shouted.

"Stop me," Haku said before turning her back to him and beginning to bang the futon through the doorway of the bathroom, putting gouges in the paint of the doorway.

Naruto just stared as his futon disappeared and heard the door on the other side of the bathroom slam closed.

"The hell?" he mumbled while scratching his head, "What exactly am I supposed to do or say in a situation like this?"

"I'm a whiny, pathetic, retarded bastard who is too stingy to give poor little me something to sleep on in this damned empty apartment," Haku shouted from the other room and Naruto blinked. Wow, she had really good hearing.

"Hey, I've got to go see Gai-sensei, let him know that I'm back," Naruto shouted and frowned as Haku marched into his apartment and into his bedroom, "Hey! What are you doing?"

"I stink. I'm going to get a shower, get out of these ridiculous spandex shorts, and then you can do whatever it is you wanted to do," she said and Naruto heard things being slammed in his bedroom before he ran in, just in time to see the picture of team seven that had been taken the second day they'd been together fall and smash on the floor.

"Oops," Haku said as she grabbed a pair of his pants and a shirt and marched out the door.

"The hell?" Naruto shouted as he chased after her, "You can't just steal my clothes and smash up my place! Screw apologizing to you! You should apologize to me you psychopath!"

The bathroom door slamming and locking in his face was the only response he got. As soon as the shower started up he went back into the kitchen, silently fuming as he threw a pot of hot water on to boil. Ramen. That would solve the problem. A little ramen and all the little annoyances of life would go away.

He gathered up the dustpan and his broom and went back into the bedroom to sweep up the fragments of glass from the broken frame. After removing the picture from the frame and setting it back up on the dresser he headed back into the kitchen while waiting the last minute or two for the water to boil before pouring it into the cup to wait the final three minutes. Instant ramen was awesome.

"You're out of shampoo," Haku announced as she walked out of the bathroom while wearing his clothes and snagged the cup of ramen out of his hand.

"Okay, that's it, give it back!" Naruto shouted as his eyes became narrow slits and he lunged for the cup. Haku spun around and he tumbled into the counter.

"You're as slow as an old man," Haku said smugly as she snatched the chopsticks from the table. She jumped up over his tackle and he barreled into the wall as she lifted his noodles to her lips.

"Yuck, ramen is disgusting," she said with a groan, "But food is food."

"You didn't just say that," Naruto said as he stared at her in disbelief, "You didn't just say what I think you said…"

"What? Ramen is disgusting?" Haku asked as she downed the last bits of broth.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Naruto screamed in rage.

* * *

"Naruto-san?" Lee asked nervously as he peered at Naruto's swollen face and then at the single black eye of the girl next to him who looked vaguely smug, "Are you okay? Who is your friend?"

"What friend?" Naruto growled.

"I'm Haku, but you can call me Haku-chan," she said with a gentle smile and gave a curtsey to Lee, "It's very nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"Don't believe her Lee! She's a psychopath!" Naruto whimpered and Lee frowned at him.

"That's not very youthful Naruto-san," Lee said as he peered at Naruto's face, "Did you trip and fall?"

"No that crazy…"

"Yes he did Lee-san. He accidentally hit me with his elbow when he fell," Haku said sweetly.

"Oh! Are you okay? Would you like me to get you some ice?" Lee said with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Lee… where is Gai-sensei?" Naruto growled out through gritted teeth.

"He is over there," Lee said motioning into the distance.

"Thanks," Naruto said as he walked off without another word.

"Is he okay?" Lee asked Haku in a concerned tone for his friend.

"Yes," Haku said with a smile, "He's just going through a hard time. I feel so poorly for him. He finally confessed to Uchiha Sasuke-san and was rejected. He's been very irritable since then."

Lee's jaw hung loosely as she walked away, "Naruto-san is…" he said before fainting dead away.

"Gai-sensei!" Naruto called out as his spandex wearing taijutsu instructor came into sight.

"Naruto!"

"Gai-sensei!" Naruto shouted back.

"Naruto!" Gai cried out as he rushed toward him with his arms outstretched in a hug.

"Get the hell away!" Naruto shouted as he ducked to the side.

Gai coughed softly into his hand, "Well Naruto-san, I see that your first mission was a success," he said with a smile, "Who is your lady friend? Is she your?"

Gai made a crooking motion with his pinky, "Because young love is so youthful," he said.

"No," Naruto growled out before sighing as Haku approached, "I just came to let you know I was back. Should I come to the morning practice tomorrow?"

Gai rubbed his chin in thought, "I think that would be fine," he said slowly, "Until then, enjoy your afternoon, even if you are not in love there is much in life to fuel your youth!"

Naruto groaned once more, "Thanks then Gai-sensei," he said before walking off. When he caught the innocent expression on Haku's face as they left the training ground it made his blood run cold for some reason.

* * *

"Interesting, isn't it, Jiraiya-chan," a small and ancient looking toad said as he tossed another tiny pebble into the pool of water, "Some people, they are like grains of sand thrown one at a time into the sea."

The old toad repeated his action with a very tiny stone, eliciting almost imperceptible ripples before tossing another slightly larger pebble, the ripples of which passed over the minute ones.

"Then others," the toad said as he tossed a fist size stone into the water, "The ripples they make become waves that wash away cities, nations, ages."

The man with white hair and red marks in long lines down his face peered at the small toad, "I'm not sure I follow Fukasaku-sama," he said slowly.

"The ripples," Fukasaku said, "Are fate, chance or probability, whatever you wish to call it. They warp the nature of events around the stones themselves. Watch closely, you see how when the ripples reach the end of the pool they travel backward?"

Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow before Fukasaku sighed.

"It's a horribly simplified explanation," Fukasaku grumbled as he wiped the dirt stuck to his palms free, "But the ripples are already spreading. He is your third student."

Jiraiya stared down into the pool and saw a boy with bright blond hair and blue eyes, eerily reminiscent of his second student talking to a girl with black hair before she subtly tripped him into a mud puddle.

"This is the nature of prophecy Jiraiya-chan," Fukasaku said with a faint smile, "The ripples are easy to see when they are not in conflict with ones of equal size, but when that occurs… the chaos is beyond the hope of any to comprehend."

"I thought the ancient sage..." Jiraiya tried to interject.

"Told you that one of your students would either bring peace or destruction to the world," Fukasaku said with a smile, "And only you would be able to dictate the course. He possessed Foresight, the ability to read the ripples on a level beyond his own comprehension, and that was the best even he could say."

Jiraiya frowned at the puddle in thought.

"It's your decision Jiraiya-chan," Fukasaku said softly, "I just hope you have wisdom to go with your luck."

Jiraiya nodded before giving a laugh, "Then I guess I should take some time to consider my options carefully," he said with a roguish smirk, "I should at least do that once in my life before I get so old that it's too late."

* * *

Naruto groaned in exhaustion as he awoke to a sharp elbow in the side.

"Your alarm has been going off for five minutes. Next time turn it off," Haku growled before stomping back out of the room and into the bathroom and he heard the shower running.

He slid out of bed and his feet hit the floor before he stumbled into the kitchen to make some sort of breakfast, something light. He was finished reading and the water was still running so he walked over and pounded on the door.

"Hey! I want some hot water too!" he shouted inside and he heard Haku call out.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" before the shower shut off and she walked out in a towel, her skin already dry, with one of his manga from the rack of reading materials near the toilet in her hand, "This is a really good one you know?"

Naruto just scowled and stomped inside before stripping down and climbing in the shower. As soon as he turned the knob he shrieked, the ice cold needles prickling his flesh. He stood there shivering for a whole minute waiting for it to warm up before pounding his head on the wall and trying to get clean with only cold water. When he emerged from the shower his skin felt covered in soap scum that refused to rinse clean in the cold temperature.

His lips were blue, even after he'd gotten dressed and saw Haku toss an empty container of instant ramen in the trash.

"You're out of ramen," she said with a smirk.

Naruto clenched his fists and took several deep breaths, "I thought you said you hated the stuff," he said in a very slow calm voice, "I bought cereal for you this morning."

Haku gave him a dazzling smile, "Oh, I know. It's just that you seem to love that trash, so I figured I'd eat the last cup," she said with a laugh, "Now where do you have to go at this ungodly hour of the morning?"

"I have taijutsu practice with Gai-sensei," Naruto said as he strapped on his weighted armor armguards, breastplate and shin guards.

"Hmm, well if I don't go with you I know you won't come back until night, so if I want out I might as well go," Haku said while chewing on her fingertip and Naruto shrugged before walking out the door with her in pursuit.

It didn't take long to reach the training ground and he heaved a sigh of relief when Haku just sat against a tree in the pre-dawn light rather than choosing to harass him during training.

"Naruto!" Gai said with a sad expression, "While I am not inclined in such a way, I can understand your frustration with being rejected by Uchiha-san. Lee told me about it. If you wish we can delay practice for a while so you can talk about it."

"Rejected? What?" Naruto asked in utter confusion.

"I understood why you said you had no interest in Haku-san and though it has never been for another boy, I can understand the heartbreak you must feel after Uchiha-san's rejection of your feelings," Gai said while patting him on the shoulder.

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted, "What the hell are you talking about? Wait… no! No way! I am not gay!"

Gai gave a sad sigh, "I can understand how you would be hesitant to embrace such a part of yourself," Gai said, "But to achieve inner harmony, acceptance of who you are is a crucial part."

Naruto turned to Haku who was giggling where she said and his face became a mask of rage, "You! You said something to Lee! I'll kill you!" he screamed before Gai caught him mid-lunge.

"Now, now, Naruto," Gai said in a chastising tone, "While it may be humiliating and perhaps wrong of Haku-san to reveal such a secret about you, I'm sure she did it so that your friends would be able to help you through such a difficult time."

Naruto's face was bright red and there was a throbbing purple vein on his forehead that looked ready to burst if his blood pressure rose any higher.

"I'm not gay," Naruto said in a very controlled voice as chakra leaked from him from his lack of emotional control, filled with such desire to do violence that even Gai took a step back, "She is not my friend. She was a prisoner who was captured in Nami no Kuni, and as a result her sensei was killed and she returned with us to, and I quote 'ensure that your life is as much of a living hell as mine is'. This is her idea of a sick joke to humiliate me."

Gai quirked an eyebrow, "Is this all a prank Haku-san?" he asked sternly.

Haku looked a bit sheepish and shrugged.

"Hmm, the scorn of a youthful woman is fierce indeed," Gai said before looking slightly ashamed, "Perhaps I shouldn't have talked to so many people to get advice for this conversation."

"How many?" Naruto growled out through clenched teeth.

"Only about a dozen jounin and most of your contemporaries," Gai said looking horribly embarrassed.

Naruto's scream shattered every window in a mile radius.

* * *

"You utter bastard!" Sakura shouted as her open palm slaps echoed in the afternoon air followed by the tearing sound of hair being pulled.

"But Sakura-chan!" Naruto whimpered under the onslaught.

"Don't Sakura-chan me!" she hissed through slitted eyes that were quite literally glowing an emerald green in rage, "I should have known! All those times you were asking me on dates you were trying to pull Sasuke and I apart so you could sink your own filthy claws into him! And you stole his first kiss!"

Haku was nearly falling over in laugher where she was wheezing, propped up against the side of the bridge.

"Sakura! I'm straight! I don't like Sasuke! I like you! Really! Haku was just trying to get me in trouble!" he shouted in desperation.

"LIAR…Mrphml," Sakura shouted as her eyes went wide before she jerked back, spitting and choking.

"See? I'm straight!" Naruto said as Sakura scrubbed her lips before she turned back to him with the scariest expression on her face he'd ever seen as she advanced toward him.

"You stole Sasuke-kun's first kiss… now you steal mine… you deviant pervert! You've probably got a sick little fantasy where you seduce both of us!" she said, cracking her knuckles and all of the blood drained from Naruto's face.

"I'd run," Haku suggested.

"You realize that if he leaves you alone here it will be breaking the terms of your house arrest, don't you?" Kakashi whispered as he dropped down beside her to watch the show.

Haku's eyes went wide and she stuck out her foot as Naruto went past, tripping him in a heap as Sakura quickly caught up.

"Oh god, no, no, not the groin, anything else but the groin... not the kidneys either… the spleen isn't any better," Naruto screamed as the sound of meaty thwacks and the occasional cracking sound echoed in the air.

Five minutes later Sakura marched off in a huff to stand on the opposite side of the bridge. Naruto groaned and opened one eye.

"Is she gone?" he whispered.

"For the moment," Haku said as she leaned down beside him and her hands glowed green briefly and he began screaming once more as his healing factor catalyzed her medical jutsu and his bones practically flew back together.

"Oh god… that hurt," Naruto wheezed as he sat back up, "I have to thank Gai-sensei for the body reinforcement lesson this morning. It stopped the worst of it, but she broke my hands so I couldn't reach the healing pills in my pouch."

After a moment her hands pulled away with a confused expression on her face.

"That was awesome! You must be really good with Ijutsu," Naruto said with a smile at her, "Thanks."

Haku stared at him with a strange look, "What are you?" she mumbled as she stepped back, "No one heals that fast."

"They don't?" Naruto asked in confusion, "But I thought Ijutsu…"

Haku shook her head, "No, I'm serious. Healing jutsu and pills just don't work that fast. I barely touched you when it sucked the energy out of the jutsu and you healed nearly instantly," she said, "It's not possible, no one heals that fast."

Naruto just looked confused for a moment.

"Naruto has some unusual abilities," Kakashi said slowly as he approached, "From what I understand from his medical reports they're similar to his eyes."

Naruto looked surprised, "Huh? You mean it did more than just change my eyes?" he asked in confusion and he realized Kakashi threw a pointed look at his stomach and he swallowed, "Umm yeah, it's like a bloodline thing."

"Why does everyone glare at you though?" Haku asked with a frown, "Konoha loves kekkei genkai."

"I think that's enough questions, Sasuke is here," Kakashi said as Naruto scrambled to his feet.

Naruto nearly screamed in frustration as Sasuke covered his ass and side stepped around Naruto with wide and slightly scared eyes.

"I hate you so much," he hissed at Haku.

"The feeling is mutual," she retorted with a smirk.

"Alright, well, since teamwork has been flagging a bit of late we're going to be doing some teamwork exercises," Kakashi said with a laugh as he watched Naruto blanch.

* * *

"So is this all you do?" Haku asked as she watched Naruto frowning at a book while his clones tried through sheer numerical advantage to puzzle out the sealing arts through trial and error, "Practice taijutsu in the morning, get beaten on by your teammates and sensei in the afternoon and practice fuuinjutsu without a clue what you're doing in the evening?"

"Hey! I know what I'm doing!" Naruto protested indignantly.

"Fine then, what are you doing?" Haku demanded.

"Umm, the power thingy that makes the stuff go to this other thingy… I've got to make it umm," he said before scratching his head.

"How in the hell did you manage to catch me in Zabuza-sama's jutsu using a seal then?" Haku asked in disbelief as Naruto went red faced.

"Umm," Naruto said in embarrassment, "Well my eyes can sort of see the seals that compose a jutsu, and if I see it long enough I can remember enough to figure it out I guess. I just had to use a storage seal from the book and one of these thingies."

"An elemental conversion sigil," Haku said with a smug expression.

"Yeah, that thing," Naruto said proudly.

"So really you have no clue how fuuinjutsu actually works, do you?" Haku asked with a derisive laugh.

"Hey, cut it out, I'm trying really hard here," Naruto grumbled, "I'll just leave you at your apartment tomorrow if you aren't going to let up for an instant."

"Whatever," Haku said dismissively, "Why aren't you using any math to figure this out? I mean you haven't even done any of the thaumic conversion factors or anything."

"The what? Look, I suck at math," Naruto said with a scowl.

"Fine, shut up and listen," Haku said as she snatched the book out of his hands and began writing junk on a piece of paper while explaining it to him. She felt like she was trying to teach a chunk of lead how to be gold, but she was at least making some progress by the time it started getting dark.

"So if I want the seals to do what they're supposed to I need to use the conversion factor thingies to calculate the umm, throughput?" Naruto asked in confusion, "Like knowing how much water pressure that has to go through a pipe?"

"Yes," Haku said with a relieved sigh, "Finally, I thought I was going to die of old age before you figured it out."

"Umm, Haku, why are you helping me?" Naruto asked with a strange expression and Haku glared at him.

"If you get yourself killed because you're a retard then I won't be able to make you suffer anymore," she said as she stared at the ground.

It was more because he was the only person she really knew here, and the only real option she had for company. Making his day bad was really the only thing that eased the pain in her chest anyway, not that it helped much. It wasn't even so much about punishing him even. She understood why he'd done it, why he had to do it, but to just forgive him felt like it would be a betrayal of everything Zabuza-sama had meant to her.

To tell the truth it was more to keep from going mad than anything. When she was ruining his day it made it so she didn't have to think about the fact that she really had no purpose, no reason to exist anymore. It was better than just following him around aimlessly all day.

A grin only one who had met Hoshigaki Kisame could appreciate spread across Haku's face, "Besides, it's fun to rub your nose in your own stupidity."

Naruto stared at his hands for a long time before standing up abruptly as his clones began to pop away one at a time. She quickly scrambled to grab the books and papers before chasing after him.

"Wait up you jerk," Haku said with a frown, "You can't just leave me behind."

"Shut up, okay?" Naruto said in a tired voice, "Look, I know I'm stupid, I've always been stupid. You think I haven't tried to change it? No, you can teach ignorance, you can correct foolishness, but you can't fix stupid. My academy teachers told me that much, so just leave me alone for a little okay?"

Haku was about to mock him more before she closed her mouth and just walked in silence next to him as the sun went down. Naruto was surprised that she hadn't jumped all over his moment of weakness, but he wasn't about to open his mouth and ruin it.

* * *

[AN:] And so ends another chapter of KDK. Expect the story to move more through in village interactions and character building/refinement/moderation for a bit.


	10. Chapter 10

[AN:] As the audience is the most important part of the dynamic of writing, far be it from me to disappoint you. I have heard several of the complaints about the tension levels being to high, and while I planned on increasing them in this chapter to their peak before letting off in the next, I went back and did a re-write of what I already had. I hope this slight easing of tension for the moment can appeal to a wider audience. This is a bit of a long chapter to fit, with the opening scene at the beginning of April and the scenes afterward picking up where last chapter left off in the last week of February.

To those who are concerned, the doujutsu wasn't really for a power boost, it was for an subplot that will begin in this chapter. Also, be aware that in my rendition of the Narutoverse, Kekkei Genkai are not 'power boosts' merely a biological form of jutsu, requiring just as much training to perfect. The Sharingan isn't 'instant mastery', it's more akin to seeing a jutsu and memorizing a scroll that tells you exactly _how_ to perform it. You must still train it. However others are latent, and simply increase base capacities. Not all are created equal, and these, much like normal genetics mean that some people are genetically pre-disposed to being faster, while others are predisposed towards strength, intelligence, obesity, etc. It is simply taken to a greater extreme, as in the case of the Nara, Inuzuka or Akamichi clans and so on. There are certain exceptions to this rule, such as the Sharingan or other kekkei genkai, which are 'power boosts', though they come with side effects, just as kinjutsu like the Eight Gates do, proportional to the size of the 'boost'. These effects can range from ones health (in the case of the Hyate clan kekkei genkai), one's sanity, or simply being so chakra intensive that they're quite impractical (like Itachi's 'Amaterasu' or 'Susanoo')

Also, for those of you who are concerned, I don't do harems, except as gag crap for my close personal friends. In serious pieces it will never happen without an outrageously, incredibly compelling reason and hundreds of thousands of words of character development. So don't expect it. If any relationship beyond friendship develops in this fic, it will be a long time, and there will not be any explicit pornographic content (lemons), at most it will be mildly erotic with any actual intercourse occuring offstage. Though I have bylines in erotic fiction, I like to seperate it from my other work, so no, just no. Sorry if I've disappointed any of you.

On a personal note which may affect the story, I seperated the cartilage of one of my ribs from my sternum, but I'm doing better with the pain at the moment, so it shouldn't affect anything yet. If it is aggrevated further I might need harder painkillers which could affect my performance, so there could possibly be delays in the future if I'm not careful.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he woke up, the smell of food cooking pulling him from sleep. He lay there for several minutes staring at the ceiling as his mind awoke fully. He blinked several times trying to remember what day it was. It had become very hard of late to keep the days sorted out in his mind. The past month felt like years, was it really just a month and a quarter since they'd returned?

He blinked at the calendar on his wall and groaned. It was only the first of April. He yawned deeply as he slid out of bed and marched into the kitchen, only to find Haku setting out breakfast for both of them. He glanced at her briefly before closing his mouth again and sitting down. Once her back was turned he checked it carefully for signs of tampering or strange tastes before admitting to himself, much to his confusion, it hadn't been sabotaged in any way, for the third day in a row now.

He looked up at Haku as she ate from her bowl without returning a glance. She'd shaved her head again recently, removing the fuzz of hair she'd grown. He yawned sleepily as the pre-dawn silence stretched on. He opened his mouth to speak a full three times before finally finding what he wanted to say.

"It's alright," he said softly and Haku's head shot up with a curious look on her face.

"What are you talking about?" she asked as she tilted her head at him.

The past month had been about as strange as it could get. It was like watching him age in front of her eyes, and it was becoming increasingly hard to really get what was going on in his mind, or maintain her sharp tongue. After the first three weeks or so of spite it just made her feel weary, rather than more alive like it had at first.

He wasn't really an asshole, and that really made making his life hell hard. Well, it was still easy to do, but not nearly as satisfying. She was worried that she'd really begun to break him down though. Despite her original intentions to do just that, or at least try to push him into killing her, it just felt horribly wrong in her stomach. He just seemed older each day. It wasn't his face or his height, but for every day that passed his eyes looked like he'd aged a full month. He'd been working so hard as well, especially on less chakra related subjects, with large numbers of Kage Bunshin.

"I mean it's going to be alright," Naruto said as he carried his food to the sink, "I just… when I woke up this morning I felt like the world had changed without me noticing. I meant that I think it's going to be okay. I'm not sure what I mean. Nevermind."

Haku raised her eyebrow at him, dropping her dishes in the sink and heading into her own apartment to change. As the door closed she couldn't help but wonder how much had really changed, and if it all really was 'alright'.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Iruka asked as he cracked open his beer in the lawn chair placed on his apartment roof as the blond and his constant shadow walked out of sight below their vantage point. The pair were returning home from the fuuinjutsu practice that Haku had just insulted him during, and he'd blown up at her for mocking his apparent stupidity.

"I think it's progress," Kakashi said with a shrug, "Kindness will make him like you, caring will too, but it won't get him to open up. The constant needling is already cracking him."

"I still think it was a bad idea for you to let Lee confront Sasuke when Sakura was there, though I have to admit it was funny to see Naruto's expression when I tricked him into thinking that I'd gone to everyone for advice," Gai said with a laugh before it twitched downward into a frown, "It's like you're trying to destroy your own team."

Kakashi frowned intently, "I know, but what am I supposed to do? Sasuke has begun to immerse himself in the Sharingan and it's already yielding its power. I'm not sure about Sakura at all, something has been off with her since the debacle in Nami. Then there's Naruto… and Haku. It's becoming hard to keep it all together anymore," he said with a tired expression.

"I think that's part of your problem," Gai said with a shrug, "You're trying so hard to control their development. They must be people. If I tried to constantly manipulate Lee into being like myself it would fatigue me and only bring conflict."

Kakashi grunted, "But we're ninja, we're trained to manipulate from the time we learn to walk," he said as he swirled what was left of his beer in its can.

"But not our friends, and the same applies to students," Iruka pointed out, "There's a time to lay down the ninja and be human."

Kakashi just grunted.

"Perhaps," Gai said as a thoughtful expression crossed his face and he rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger, "Perhaps if you let them grow in their own ways and simply act as a guide along the path you will find more success. If your Uchiha truly will not turn from his path, then at least you have made an effort to help, rather than to control him. If you became an advisor then perhaps you could nudge the kunoichi of your team into finding her own nindo. Even Naruto would benefit from such treatment."

Kakashi rubbed his temples and leaned back before tossing the empty can in the recycling bin a few feet away.

"He's begun delving deeper in the Sharingan. Its signs are already showing. I understood his actions in Nami no Kuni immediately after awakening it. It was to be expected, as he had never had to cope with its effects before," Kakashi said sadly, "But nothing I can do can persuade him from the fell power it offers. I can hardly blame him. It tempts me as well sometimes, and I don't even carry the unique weakness to it inherent in the Uchiha blood, it reminds me of the glint (a white powdery drug) I fell into before Minato-sensei beat it out of me."

Neither of the two beside him spoke, opting instead to look anywhere but at him.

"I wish things were easier," Kakashi said, grimacing as he realized that his depressed mood was ruining his buzz.

"It's just a matter of adaptation," Iruka said, "If a tactic isn't working, change it."

"Speaking of which," Gai said quietly, "I'm going to begin giving Naruto koan as well as famous ninja sayings to study and have him discuss them with me. I'm hoping it will make him more inclined to think things through, at least when he has time. If I'm lucky it might help him learn to start reasoning things out, rather than simply making huge illogical leaps to understanding something."

Iruka nodded, "That's actually a pretty good idea. Convince him that the secrets to martial prowess lie inside them. Once he gets the hang of it I'll lend you my copy of the Art of Subterfuge by the Rokudo Sennin," he said with a grin, "If you can actually persuade him into learning how to think properly he'll be a real force to be reckoned with."

Kakashi snorted at Gai's eccentric taste for the esoteric, "We're shinobi, not philosophers," he said with a smirk at Gai.

"Namikaze-sama was both," Gai said, bringing the rooftop to complete silence.

* * *

The hot (though to the natives of Hi no Kuni it was rather cool) March sun was enough to make her sweat bullets, even inside with the fan on. Naruto insisted she was mad to have it on, but it was the only thing that made the temperature tolerable. The last thing she had expected to hear was an incessant pounding on her door.

It confused her for a moment. Naruto had gone out this afternoon to do the new meditation exercises Gai-sensei had given him on the day she'd been invited to join the taijutsu practices to fill her admittedly large gap in that skill, four days ago now. The strange Green Beast had insisted that if she was to become a kunoichi after her probation she couldn't let her skills atrophy and since she was there he intended to teach her.

With Naruto gone it didn't leave anyone else who might bother her. When she opened the door to find Naruto's younger teammate, the Haruno girl, standing there it only added to the confusion.

"Umm Haku-san… can I talk with you?" Sakura asked hesitantly, "Naruto isn't around, is he?"

Haku shook her head while motioning the girl in through the door.

"What's going on?" Haku asked, "Did Kakashi-san send you to get Naruto for a mission or something?"

Sakura shook her head and sat down on one of the canvas chairs Naruto purchased for her a few days after she moved in, along with her own bed.

"I wanted to ask… umm… well you're older than I am, and a kunoichi so…" Sakura said, as her expression shifted back and forth while she looked for the right words.

Haku mentally groaned. Living with nearly a dozen shinobi and not a single other girl for so many years had given her a decided discomfort with 'girl-talk'. The prospect of being singled out by the pinkette, who had already joined her list of annoying people just below Naruto, for girl-talk was not her idea of fun.

"I wanted to ask why you became a kunoichi," Sakura asked as she bit her lip.

"What?" Haku asked as her brow rose.

"I meant… why you wanted to become strong. It was for Zabuza right? He was like your father or something," Sakura said.

Haku didn't want to go into her… complicated… relationship so she decided to approach it differently.

"I wanted to get away," she said as her mind went back to her earliest memories, "I wanted to make the pain go away. It wasn't a good reason, but it was enough of a reason that when Zabuza-sama asked me if I wanted to become his tool I was more than willing to accept."

"You wanted to get away?" Sakura asked with her face scrunched up in confusion and Haku sighed.

"Mizu no Kuni is a brutal place. Those with bloodlines are treated like they bear diseases and are often killed if they lack the protection of a clan," Haku said, her tone dropping to just above a whisper, "My father found out I had the Hyouton [Ice Release] kekkei genkai, and killed my mother for it. When he tried to kill me… I got scared and my bloodline reacted, killing him."

The blood drained from Sakura's face as she listened to Haku speak.

"I had no family after that so I became a child whore," Haku said, "I was always hungry, cold and getting hurt. I always tried to hide that I had monstrous blood. When Zabuza-sama found me and saw value in what everyone hated, I was desperate for hope, something I'd lost a long time before."

She shook her head and gave a stark laugh, "I was desperate for a reason, a purpose for living. Before Zabuza-sama claimed me there wasn't any reason for me to live. I just existed from day to day. Afterward I had a reason. I had to become strong to protect the one person who would care for someone with cursed blood," she said before her voice became thick and heavy, "Then I failed, and I…"

Sakura waited for her to finish her abandoned sentence before frowning, "You mean, you did it so you had a purpose for existing?" she asked, "Not because you loved him as your father?"

Haku's laugh felt like lead falling on the floor, "Maybe. I don't know. Why are you asking me this?" she asked as she stared blankly out the window, Sakura's words echoing in her head.

"I wanted to know why you were strong," Sakura mumbled, "The trip to Nami no Kuni made me feel like I was the only one who couldn't keep up. I don't ever want to be a burden like that again."

"What is your reason for being a kunoichi? " Haku asked to prevent any further questions that would make her head hurt, or worse, her chest.

Sakura blushed, "Well, I guess it was to catch Sasuke-kun's eye," she said with a giggle.

Haku's jaw fell open.

"You mean you go out into the field and risk death, crippling wounds, dismemberment, and rape just because you have a crush on a boy?" Haku gasped out as her eyes widened as far as they'd go.

Sakura's blush turned even darker than before her confession and she looked a bit embarrassed.

"I mean, no," Sakura said as she tried to figure out what to say, "I had a reason to join in the first place, but I… ugh. Haven't you ever wanted to be with a cute boy?"

Haku's eyes went a little glassy for a moment as she lapsed into memory before shaking herself like a wet dog.

"So he did something major, like saved your life, or something like that?" Haku asked in disbelief, "He must have like saved you and your entire family or something right? After all he is an Uchiha."

Sakura blushed, "No, he didn't, but that's why I like him, the Uchiha are so cool," she said with a perverted giggle.

The glass of water Haku had just taken a sip of fell from her hand to shatter on the ground.

"Wait… what?" Haku said as she blinked rapidly, "You… actually… wow… you must have both the compassion and love of a saint or be completely psychotic evil."

"Wuh?" Sakura asked as her face screwed up in confusion.

"We're talking about the Uchiha clan, right? With the Sharingan? The doujutsu that not even Kumogakure wants to get a hold of? The Lords of Madness?"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

Haku groaned as she clutched her head.

"The Uchiha are one of the few clans that no ninja will ever trust, ever invite into their home, or marry into the clan of," Haku said, "Out of the two, the other being the former Bachiatariko clan who bore the Akuma no Naizai [Demonic Indwelling] kekkei genkai, which died out several years ago, the Uchiha are the more universally loathed. The Akuma no Naizai is a curse that was placed upon the clan that transforms the members of that clan into demons when they lose control of their emotions, a curse given against their own volition."

She shuddered before continuing, "The Sharingan however was a power bargained for," Haku said with a nauseated expression, "They agreed to serve the Mumei Hitotsu [Nameless One] in exchange for a power that follows no laws of logic, which defies reality and is a corruption of the abilities of the gods themselves. The only price is the mind and the soul, one the Uchiha willingly pay. That's about all I can tell you that's common knowledge, outside of the stories. Zabuza-sama warned me to be careful about them when he first took me in, and to hide in their presence. One of them ruled Mizu no Kuni, with only his eyes visible, his face always hidden. He is who turned our nation into a bloody wasteland and turned brother against brother, husband against wife and father against child."

The last words came out in a spitting hiss as her eyes narrowed to slits, "I can tolerate your Uchiha, because he is loyal to your village, our village, but I will never ever trust him," she said as her fists clenched so tightly it became audible.

Sakura looked at Haku as though she were crazy, "How can you say that? Just because one person is bad it doesn't mean that everyone is!" she shouted, "Kakashi-sensei has the Sharingan too!"

Haku shrugged, "He doesn't seem to be affected by whatever it is that makes them psychopaths," she said, "Unlike your teammate, who already scares me, not because of what he is, but of what he will be. You act like it's just a normal bloodline. It's not. The Uchiha were once a part of the Hyuuga clan. A person who has one kekkei genkai governing a part of their body can never develops another that governs the same. It is a bargain that changed their eyes and the reason every Hyuuga, save for the main branch, bears the caged bird seal. It keeps them from joining into the same agreement, which the Mumei Hitotsu offered to all Hyuuga. Why don't you know this? Doesn't your village teach you about the kekkei genkai within it?"

Sakura was staring numbly at Haku before shaking her head and replying by rote, her mind still stuck on Haku's words and her own came out in a mechanical tone, "The kekkei genkai of Konoha are not taught in order to preserve the secrets of the clan and assist in the common acceptance of the components of Konohagakure no Sato, ensuring peace," she said before her jaw clacked shut as her mind reached her own words, and she analyzed them in a more suspicious light.

"It can't be true," Sakura whispered, "It can't be… how do you know if we don't know?"

Haku frowned, "Its part of the famous mythological cycle, the Akuma Kami no Mouretsu [Rage of the Demon God]," she said, "It's really famous, 'Nine woods to bind him, nine seals to keep him, nine eyes to free him, but ten is the number of things unseen, the bane of all that was and is and what shall be. The eyes of those who look toward the sun, touched with black fire bring forth the one. Three shall go forth, two shall return. Six and six before eyes of nine. Three stand alone on hell's coming shores. The sage sown from the whirlwind, the true Lord of Chaos reaped from the shadows and the darkness twofold gave birth to the third. These shall stand witness when the Shadows begin."

By her singsong voice it sounded as though she were reciting a child's nursery rhyme as she continued, "Eight eyes watch when ninth seal breaks, shattered by the eyes of the blind. In the eye of the Lord of Chaos the Nameless is named and by the twofold darkness is the Lord of Chaos slain. Two hands make ten fingers, in ten pieces splits the world, ten he shall gather to bear forth his will and in darkness stand ten when all becomes still.'" she recited, then shrugged.

"Every child in Mizu no Kuni knows it. No one knows what it means, but when my mother taught it to me she said it was some sort of prophecy, and Zabuza-sama explained to me that 'those who look toward the sun' were the Hyuuga clan and the 'touched with black fire' meant the Uchiha. You can find a copy of the mythological cycle anywhere. Fortunately there aren't nine Uchiha left in the world to fulfill the 'Eight Eyes' part or at least not a fourth Uchiha if you count each eye separately or include Sharingan Kakashi, because everyone else who has ever had a Sharingan implanted in the past went completely insane within days of receiving it."

Sakura was just staring blankly at the wall, her mind fighting with what Haku was telling her and her own hopes and dreams.

"You're lying! It can't be true! There's no such thing as gods, or anything like that!" Sakura hissed before bolting out the door, her mind whirling and feeling more confused than ever before.

It wasn't possible. Fairy tales didn't happen, they didn't mean anything. Her father always told her so. It's why he hated the Shogun so much, because the Shogun claimed that he acted out the 'will of fire' of Amaterasu Oomikami, the Sun goddess. Her father said that it was all superstition to enforce the validity of the Shogunate and ensure that the merchant clans could never rise to real power because they weren't part of the 'three great houses'.

She ran off in the direction of her home as quickly as her feet could take her, praying that her father could say something to her that could prove that Haku's words were just superstitious tales, perpetuated by the nobles and believed only by the feebleminded.

* * *

"Good morning my two shining pupils!" Gai said brightly as he and Haku arrived at the training grounds and both averted their eyes from the light glinting off his teeth and fire in his eyes.

Haku was still looked bit surprised by being referred to as his pupil, despite having begun learning alongside Naruto for nearly a week now.

Gai grinned broadly and struck a pose, "I have mulled long hours seeking insight and have been enlightened as to what to teach you next," he said with a laugh, "So I will put off discussing the koan you were given until the end of our time together."

Naruto's eyes gleamed at the thought of finally learning something new, other than trying to figure out old, stupid, and annoying sayings made up by someone too witty for their own good that had nothing better to do than make his head hurt. He hated them, even if Gai-sensei said that understanding them was essential if he intended to become a Hokage. No wonder Jiji-san smoked tobacco. Maybe it helped him understand stupid koans?

"I have carefully analyzed your natural inclinations and other factors and finally determined that you are both utterly unsuitable to teach the higher arts of the Konoha Senpuu Ryuu," Gai said.

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted in horror. After all their time together he had gotten to like Gai and didn't think the man would ever just abandon him like that.

Gai held up a hand to stop his panic, "No need to fret, I have come up with exactly what to teach you both," he said and Naruto swallowed the bitter taste that had welled up in his mouth, "You lack the level of strength currently to perform any of the higher techniques of the Konoha Senpuu Ryuu. So instead I will teach you the Hakkeshou Ryuu [Eight Trigrams Palm Style], the soft 'hard' style that the Jyuuken was originally based upon. Haku-san has a fluidity to her motions that makes her ideally suited to the Seichou Nami Ryuu [Serene Wave Style] from Kirigakure no Sato. As you have no prior taijutsu training beyond the very basics, despite being trained by a Taijutsu artist, you have none of the preconceptions that usually make learning the style difficult."

Gai produced a clone and divided the two apart and began running through the first motions each needed to learn. It didn't take long for Naruto to begin to have trouble.

"This is so uncomfortable Gai-sensei," Naruto grumbled as he moved his limbs through the strange and horribly uncomfortable positions, "Why am I doing this instead of working more on the Konoha Senpuu?"

Gai smiled, "Because now that you're reaching the point where you have rudimentary use of the speed control method you're ready to learn this," he said quickly, "It's very important that you remain loose while making these motions, if you tense up so it feels more comfortable it ruins the point of the exercise."

"But what's the point?" Naruto demanded as Gai shook his head and he had to start all over again.

"No, don't restart, you're too frustrated," Gai said as Haku glanced over at Naruto with a faint smirk, "Have you determined why I'm having him do this yet?"

Haku nodded rapidly, "Because when you use the speed control method it's doubly important not to have any tension on your muscles, because the loss of speed and impact power is magnified by the greater contraction strength, as well as the amount of chakra that has to be burned to keep your bones from snapping under the opposing forces," she said, excited to be included, "It's like the Seichou Nami Ryuu from Kirigakure no Sato. Zabuza-sama may not have taught me much in the way of taijutsu because he didn't want me to risk myself at close range, but he taught me how to recognize it."

"Very good," Gai said with a vaguely impressed expression, "That's why I suggested it as your taijutsu style. You have the sort of relaxed fluidity that will make you a natural at it. I am curious as to why, even if he wished to keep you safe, a taijutsu expert like Momochi-san would not teach you the arts."

"I mainly learned to use my kekkei genkai and to act as support for him where I wouldn't be in as great of risk," she said before shrugging, "I never had a real interest in it anyway, as fighting someone face to face is a good way to get killed."

Gai grinned broadly, "Taijutsu is very necessary when in active duty. It is not mere brawling at all," he said with a grin, "Taijutsu is the great equalizer. When facing an opponent who is of great physical power, often your ninjutsu and genjutsu techniques are not enough. No matter how great the mind, if there is a great disparity in the flesh then no amount of trickery can equal it. Taijutsu masters are fast enough to escape your deadliest attacks; skilled enough to snatch your best kunai throw out of the air and they can reinforce their body to withstand the greatest impacts."

"But what about the Kawarimi?" Naruto objected, "I told you what happened to those Kirigakure nukenin when I made that mistake."

Gai chuckled, "Perhaps it's time that I show you the true extent of what taijutsu mastery is. There is a reason taijutsu is linked to both ninjutsu and genjutsu," Gai said, "Because it transcends the bounds of possibility imposed by concrete reality, observe."

Naruto watched in shock as Gai removed dozens of exploding tags from his pouch and proceeded to paper them over his body while walking a fair distance away. He then dropped into a low stance and made the activation hand seal, causing the delay period before the tags detonated to begin. The instant before they went off Naruto swore he saw Gai's body glow as a golden haze sprung up around him before he disappeared in a hellish conflagration of destruction. He was further stunned when Gai walked out of the crater without a smudge on his face, a hair out of place or his clothing singed at all. Even if he reinforced his body that much it should have at least ruined his clothing.

"Taijutsu is the sublime art of the body," Gai said with a grin, "A taijutsu master can go beyond what the minds of many can accept as possible. There are usually several components to any taijutsu style, the Kata [forms] the Ryuu [style] and the Kagayaki [Radiance]. Each is a separate step on the path to mastery. Without chakra, only the Kata can be performed, this is what civilian martial arts embrace."

"Most non-specialists only perform the Kata and merely empower it with chakra. Once a taijutsu artist has grasped the 'spirit' or essence of the Kata they can move onward to the Ryuu stage. This is where things like Lee's Konoha Senpuu, the attack that the Konoha Senpuu Ryuu is named for, become possible. Do you wonder why when Lee performs it things near him are forcefully pulled inward into the path of his attack? This is because he has crossed the gap between form and style," Gai said with a grin, "At this point taijutsu begins to meld the mind with the body."

"Without the overwhelming _intent_ behind the technique it would merely be a very fast rotating kick," Gai said, "However when the mind becomes united with the body, the chakra that saturates it begins to exhibit strange properties, this is the purpose of meditation within taijutsu. By bringing the body into unity with the mind, the chakra in the muscles no longer simply strengthens contraction but reacts in ways reminiscent of other forms of jutsu."

"Wait, how?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Gai laughed, "That is a debate for the ages, but the Yondaime Hokage had it best, I believe. He once said in a lecture that 'Man is a Fuuin inscribed upon the universe, unseen to any eye for its vastness and compactness rise beyond the ability for any to grasp in its whole. The flesh, the spirit, the mind, they are all part of this ever changing, self controlling seal.'," Gai said, "Of course that isn't precisely true, as it is said that Hyuuga Hiashi is capable of seeing kekkei genkai imprinted within the flesh. It is also supported by the way a Reader can extract jutsu from a deceased body."

Naruto's jaw dropped slightly and even Haku looked shocked.

"Hence, according to the Yondaime's theories, the mind, through great meditation can superimpose seals, though not perceived in the manner of mere symbols, into the flesh in some sort of resonance, so that when that connection is held and chakra is applied, it is as though the flesh is the Fuuin," Gai said, "And the body becomes one with the art."

"The final stage of a taijutsu artist is when body, mind, and spirit become united; this is known as the Kagayaki. When this occurs the body transcends the limitations of known reality. The famous, or infamous depending what whim itched his mind each morning, Sun Wu Kong of Tsuchi no Kuni [Earth Country] reached this point nearly four hundred years ago, where he could pluck a hair from his body and it would arise into a copy of himself, not a mere bunshin, but of his own flesh and blood, as real and true as he. He could stride the clouds and change his shape into all manner of things, according to legend," Gai said, "But he was like my Lee. He was incapable of Genjutsu or Ninjutsu. He merely mastered the arts of the body to an extent no being has been able to perform since."

"What you saw with the exploding tags is one of the few Kagayaki even I am capable of. For the brief time I can maintain it, it makes me _realer_," Gai said with a look at Naruto, referencing back to their previous lessons, "Than the reality around me. It is as though physical reality is a mere genjutsu that cannot truly physically affect me. However it is not something that is simple to perform."

Both Naruto and Haku were staring at Gai as though he had sprouted a second, or possibly a third head.

"This is why actual ability in taijutsu is important. Even at a lower level of ability than that of Kagayaki, a taijutsu artist becomes capable of channeling their power in a way that can shatter the walls of a Doton: Doryuuheki [Earth Release: Earth Style Wall], a very effective defensive ninjutsu. Their knowledge of their body allows them to rely on other senses when faced with genjutsu," Gai said before smiling at Naruto, "What happened to your eyes, it is why only taijutsu artists with A-Rank skill begin using chakra to enhance their senses unless they are part of a clan with a genetic predisposition to such enhancement. Only at such levels of ability can it be done safely. Taijutsu is not merely about physical fighting, but all arts that use the body itself."

"So taijutsu… it's like ninjutsu and genjutsu, just using the body?" Naruto summarized and a drop of sweat formed on Gai's brow in exasperation.

"Err… Okay," Gai said slowly, "Think of it this way, using taijutsu does not mean that you should abandon fighting from the shadows, it is merely another tool for such combat. It can allow you to survive if you fall for an enemy's feint, and perhaps turn the trap around if they move for the kill in person. Taijutsu is an Art, and can be used in the manner of any art."

Naruto scratched his head for a moment before shrugging, "Not sure I really understand yet, but okay," he said and Gai just laughed.

"Now, you seem to have relaxed a bit," Gai said, "Get up and moving."

Naruto grumbled briefly and stood before assuming a pose and beginning the movement through the form.

* * *

"Boss! Hey Boss!" a familiar voice called out as Naruto wandered the streets of Konoha alongside Haku.

"Oh hi Konohamaru," Naruto said with a broad smile as he turned around to see the dark haired boy and his two friends running to catch up with them.

"Hey boss, you wanna play ninja with us today?" Konohamaru asked and Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head while he blushed under Haku's questioning gaze.

"You 'play' ninja?" Haku asked as her lips quirked upward in amusement.

Naruto frowned at her before grinning, "One must be both ninja and ningen [human], as the flesh contracts to deliver the fatal blow the heart and spirit must expand in an equal proportion. For a ninja to be deadly, his ningen must be filled with joy," he said with a laugh as he quoted one of the things Gai had given him to think about, a quote of the Yondaime Hokage, rather than one of those stupid koan sayings.

"Wow Boss, that's deep," Konohamaru said soberly, which was just too much for Haku and she began laughing so hard she cried.

"Naw," Naruto said in the grin, "Figuring out the sound of one hand clapping is deep, that's just a good quote."

Haku couldn't resist the urge to bite at that, "So, oh wise one, what is the sound of one hand clapping?" she asked as she caught her breath.

"Oh that's easy," Naruto said, "'_Cl'_ , because the sound of the other hand clapping is '_ap'_."

Haku just looked at him strangely for a moment before shrugging.

"Hey boss, is this your new girl?" Konohamaru asked, "Does the pink one know you're cheating on her?"

Naruto blushed deeply and Haku scowled.

"NO! I'd as soon date him as a pillar of light would open from the clouds to the sound of angelic singing and a white dove landed on his shoulder," Haku said with a glare.

At that moment the clouds broke and a dove landed on Naruto's shoulder, trying to get at a speck of food on his mask. Haku's scowl deepened.

"I still don't hear…"

At that moment the Konoha orchestral choir began singing in their practice hall, just across the street. Haku's face turned bright red.

"Wow boss," Konohamaru said in reverent tones, just before the bird started pecking him in the head and making angry cooing noises.

"I'm going to kill you," Haku hissed in embarrassment, "And that's just a choir, not angels singing."

Naruto heaved a sigh of relief as he shooed the dove, now revealed to be an albino pigeon by its red eyes, off his shoulder, "Thank kami, I was scared for a minute there. Come on, let's play with him."

Haku scowled, "How exactly does a ninja play ninja?" she mumbled in frustration.

"Easy," Naruto said, "You and Udon get to play the forces of Iwa and me, Konohamaru and Moegi will be Konoha! I get to play the Yondaime!"

"Oh dear Susanoo save me from these crazy people," Haku mumbled at the insanity before her as Naruto and the kids, of which at this moment Naruto was showing he was one of as well, dragged her off to explain the rules.

Sitting on a bench down the street a white eyed, dark haired girl in a beige jacket watched them walk away with wide eyes as she bit her lip, unable to hear more than Haku's original claim that she'd only date him under conditions that from her perspective had just been fulfilled.

"Stupid foreign tramp," Hinata mumbled before clamping her hand over her mouth in horror at her own words before sighing heavily in depression, "It's not like he'd even look at me. I'm just a shy, dark weirdo with no real talent."

A polite cough as someone settled on the bench next to her drew her attention and she blushed heavily as she realized she'd been heard, by her teammate Shino no less.

"Oh, umm, hello Shino-kun," Hinata said, blushing furiously as Shino adjusted his black sunglasses, "I, umm, I didn't know the team was meeting today."

"We are not meeting," Shino replied, "I decided it was an appropriate time to speak to you, if you'll permit me to discuss a personal matter."

Hinata's eyes widened a bit at his words. Shino _never_ discussed anything personal, even though the Aburame were one of the strongest allies of the Hyuuga clan, and she'd encountered him dozens of times at family functions, even before they'd become teammates.

"Umm… what is it Shino-kun?" she asked nervously.

"I understand that you are disappointed about the team arrangements," he said quietly and as Hinata opened her mouth to comment he continued, "Not that you dislike your current team, merely that you wished to be in another."

Hinata didn't know what to say as she shifted uncomfortably, doing a poor job of hiding her embarrassment.

"And I understand that Uzumaki-san's new… changes… have given him an even greater level of interest than before to you," Shino said slowly and Hinata nearly fainted from pure mortification, "But I also understand a bit about Uzumaki-san."

"You do?" Hinata squeaked as she steadied herself to keep from falling off the bench if he decided to hit her with another shocking statement. She had believed she was the only one who had ever bothered to learn anything about her crush… before that black haired… Hinata reminded herself that such words weren't polite, even in her head.

"I would like to believe that I do," Shino said as he relaxed against the tree, "I think that you might find the strength to approach him if you emulated some of his more recent changes, this new attitude he has embraced."

"How do you know about that?" Hinata asked in surprise.

"It is spoken about in several places," Shino said, not particularly willing to mention that it was his father who suggested he say it, at the request of Hinata's father.

"Umm, okay," Hinata said with a frown, "But I'm not good at all."

"You were the fifteenth ranked student in our class, Naruto-san was the twenty seventh," Shino said simply, "When we graduated, you were far above him. It is fair to reason that if you labored as he does that you can at least keep pace with him, no? Perhaps that will bear more fruit than simply pining away."

"But," Hinata said as Shino stood, but he didn't stop. She just stared at his back as he walked away.

Shino headed straight for his clan compound while mumbling to his insects.

"It is a bit frustrating to be a messenger," Shino said to himself once he was a distance away, with his pensive expression concealed by the flaps of the high collar of his coat that hid his face, "But it is necessary to act out the will of the clan, to ensure good relationships with allies."

* * *

"Why are you here?" Hiashi asked as his head turned to view his eldest daughter who had just slid open the paper shutter and stepped into the dojo.

"Umm, I wished to s-speak with you Otousan," Hinata said softly and Hiashi raised a single eyebrow.

"Then speak. You are not some branch member to ask permission merely to speak… yet," Hiashi replied sternly, "But speak quickly; I am training your sister."

"I wish to join your training lessons again," she said softly and Hiashi kept his lips from twitching into a smile.

"I have no reason to train a child who has no desire to become stronger," Hiashi said as he turned his gaze to Hanabi who had dropped low and delivered a double palm strike to the solar plexus of her imaginary enemy.

"I…err, I wish to become stronger," Hinata said as she began to press her fingers together before clasping her hands in embarrassment and shoving them behind her back.

"It is what you always say," Hiashi said harshly, "You always wish, a thousand wishes a day in your head, yet you never bleed for what you desire. It is just that which makes you such an unsuitable heiress."

Hinata's head hung a little lower and Hiashi felt a flash of disappointment before her face came up again with a look of determination.

"I cannot be left behind," Hinata whispered softly, "If I am left behind… I can never reach what I wish for."

"Go change into something more suitable and return quickly," Hiashi said tonelessly and Hinata scrambled out the door, tripping on the step and tumbling into a heap before scrambling back to her feet and running for her room to change.

Hiashi turned his head back to Hanabi as thoughts traveled through his head. It was both pleasing for a plan to work, and a bit disappointing that she could not summon the strength to put real effort forth for the sake of her own family. She whined and moaned about how she disliked the ways and traditions of the Hyuuga clan without bothering to learn the necessity behind them. She whimpered that her family did not care for her when she would not rise to do her duty to her family, abandoning them to her own self misery.

It was only the fortune of _that_ man's child developing white eyes that made her believe she actually had an opportunity to chase after him. It was only for a boy she knew nothing of; save for her own idealized dreams of him that she wanted to be stronger. It was only her growing jealousy and a favor owed called in that could push her to make the decision to become stronger. Hopefully that would change as time passed. With the troubles the I-Ching foretold for their clan, a strong leader was necessary, one who would not falter under the weight.

* * *

"You look more like you're fighting constipation than meditating," Haku's voice teased, utterly breaking his tenuous concentration.

"Gha! I almost had it!" Naruto whined as his eyes opened and he glared at her.

"No, you were nowhere close," Haku said with what Naruto thought was a soft and knowing smile before he blinked and realized it was more of a smug smirk, "You were way too tense. The point isn't to find stillness by tensing up until you don't move; it's to relax so that you are no longer _trying_ to stay motionless. Weren't you listening at all to what Gai-sensei was saying?"

"Oh, so now he's Gai-sensei to you," Naruto said with a grimace, "You don't have to rub it in my face that you can impress him while I just look like an idiot."

Haku sighed before pelting him in the forehead with a pebble, "You don't get it do you," she said with a scowl, "For someone who just suddenly seems to catch on to the strangest things, you really have no clue do you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto growled as he rose angrily to his feet.

"It means that you're an idiot, but you're not stupid," Haku said in frustration, "It means that you aren't just ignorant, but you have no clue how to actually really learn anything until you just somehow grasp it out of nowhere."

"What are you talking about? An idiot but not stupid? They're the same thing," Naruto said as he began to stomp off, "You just like making fun of me."

Haku frowned intensely before hopping to her feet and chasing after him, "Well, I do like making fun of you, but if you get killed you get away from me. So it's my job to make sure you don't get yourself killed," she said as she elbowed him in the side hard enough to make him wince and hold his ribs.

"You're a total nutcase," Naruto said with a scowl, "I don't get you, how you come up with this junk. I mean, you don't try to kill me, but you try to spite me to death every moment since you've gotten here. This isn't about Zabuza. If it were about Zabuza you would have killed me already. This is about you, and whatever goes on in your crazy head."

Haku watched him turn away and march toward his apartment without another word, leaving her in shock at his words. She bit her lip in a mixture of pain and frustration. What he said _was_ true, but it wasn't something she wanted to admit. If she really had devoted all of her being to Zabuza she would have just killed him and accepted whatever the consequences were.

She wandered along behind him, keeping enough distance that she didn't have to talk with him but not so much that she'd be breaking her probation.

She felt so entirely selfish. It hadn't been about Zabuza-sama, his confrontation forced her to stare that admission in the face. She had been thinking about herself the moment Zabuza-sama was dead, her own grief, and her own pain. That was why she made Naruto miserable. It gave her something to do. It kept her from feeling so totally lost now that she had nothing left to anchor her to anything in particular.

She had abandoned Zabuza-sama before he was even in the ground, without even thinking about it. That hurt almost as bad as knowing she'd never see his smiling face again in those rare moments he was at peace. Now she'd centered her whole life on someone else, the person who was at fault for the whole thing. Granted she was trying to make him miserable instead of happy, but now that she looked at it, the similarity despite the dichotomy made her sick to her stomach.

When she reached her apartment she slammed and locked the door to the bathroom the moment she was inside. With a heavy sigh she threw herself down on the bastard's looted futon before burying her face into the pillow and muffling a scream of frustration. When the smell of the person whose bed she'd stolen it from filled her nose she threw it at the wall and lay down on the floor instead. It was impossible to find any peace, just more thoughts that only made things worse. Damn that jerk for being so clueless yet suddenly seeing right through things that he should have just left the hell alone.

* * *

Naruto awoke the next morning with something cold pressed against his cheek he turned slowly before his eyes widened. Stabbed into the pillow next to his head was a butcher's knife. He shuddered as he edged away from it before slipping out of his bed. He pulled it free and hurried into the kitchen, depositing it into the sink without a word. There really wasn't anything to say to the girl who was eating cereal instead of his ramen that morning.

"You're out of milk," Haku said without looking up from her cereal and Naruto just nodded before throwing a skillet on to make a Kumo style breakfast of bacon and eggs rather than something more traditional.

Once the bacon was on he turned to face her and grimaced, unsure of what to say. Her hair had started to grow back in over the past three weeks since they'd returned to Konoha. She hadn't eaten well the first week but she'd lost the sallow look now, and actually looked like a member of the living. However the chill aura around her was worse this morning than it had been since the trip back from Nami no Kuni. It was hard to find anything to say to her, and the knife stuck through his pillow wasn't something he really wanted to talk about.

"Umm, your hair is growing back," Naruto said, grasping the only thing he could think of.

"So? What about it?" Haku asked as she fished the last bits of cereal from the milk.

"I just meant… Your hair is a pretty color, kind of blue tinted black, like a raven's feather," Naruto said defensively.

Haku sat down the empty bowl and walked into the bathroom while Naruto turned back to his breakfast. Once it was finished and safely in his stomach he walked over to the bathroom door and knocked.

"Are you still in there?" he asked and didn't get any sort of an answer so he walked inside to find it empty. He was surprised when he got in the shower that there was still a bit of hot water left, so he washed quickly before it ran out. It wasn't until he was brushing his teeth that he noticed that there was a wad of blue tinted black hair in the waste bin. He gave a heavy sigh as he rinsed out his mouth before calling out that he was getting ready to leave.

By the time they were out the door, Haku was walking alongside him, her hair shaved back to bare scalp once more. He tried several times to talk with her on the way to morning training with Gai-sensei, but the best he could get out of her were monosyllabic replies.

"We're here," Naruto called out as he saw Gai running Lee through some sort of meditative technique.

"Ahh, hello Naruto-san," Gai said with a smile, "I'd like you to work on coordinating basic footwork with the speed control method, while Haku-san works on the forms alongside your clones. I've got some work with Lee that I need to do for a bit, but never fear, Lee learns quickly."

Lee grinned and waved at them and Haku gave Lee a happy wave back. Lee had quickly forgiven her for the 'youthful prank' she'd played on Naruto, and his unwitting role in it. Naruto gave a big grin at Lee before moving off to the side to do as Gai-sensei instructed. It was a bit frustrating, trying to coordinate the most basic motions like this. So far about the only thing he could do was run in a straight line, and his speed control was so poor he was only moving at about seventy five percent faster than when he moved with the standard enhanced speed from the strength method.

It was so slow going, but even the little progress he'd made so far had been pretty cool. Sasuke had been so surprised when he'd suddenly dashed forward yesterday when they'd sparred, equal in speed to him, and caught him off guard. Of course Sasuke had quickly beaten him down, but he'd gotten off a solid hit, something he was proud of.

The trick to it all was that every muscle group was a different size, which meant a different limit to the total chakra that could be put through it. With the strength method, the differences were pretty uniform, but with speed control the proportional differences just became more exaggerated. The amount of chakra a pulse through his abdomen could contain would leave him screaming in agony if he put it through something like his tricep. When he was using the basic strength method, all he had to do was get the proportions right in the first place and then he just had to keep it steady in those amounts to each part of his body.

With each pulse he had to perform in less than a second he had to channel the right proportion of chakra to a muscle so that its strength of flexing wasn't horribly disproportionate to the rest of his movement. If he got it wrong it threw him completely off balance. Then he had to get that pulse to just the right amount were he was going as fast as the duration of the pulse would let him, then release it and repeat the same process with the very next muscle, using a whole different set of factors.

On top of all of it he had to get the right amount of chakra to his bones and skin to keep his movements from literally crushing his skeleton to powder or tearing him apart at the seams. Comparing it to learning how to walk all over again was laughable. It was like learning to walk in a dozen directions at once. The glacially slow pace he was improving at only served to make his concentration more difficult, as he could barely see his own growth rate.

What he didn't know was that Gai was inordinately proud of him, and Haku was extremely jealous. Her own training in the speed method, despite her much better chakra control, had moved so slowly that she hadn't been able to perceive her own improvement except when taken over quarter year periods. In weeks he was accomplishing levels of coordination that took months, and he wasn't even able to use shadow clones for this as the damage to his muscles that was inevitable for any minor mistake, until he got the full range of motion down to an instinctual level, would dispel his shadow clones so often as to make using them pointless.

The sound of an explosion nearby and the sight of Lee stumbling away disoriented from the wreckage of a massive log that had struck with such impact that it left scorch marks and had ignited some of its splinters broke his concentration entirely and he tumbled into a heap and managed to force a healing pill between clenched teeth to fix his wrecked calf muscle.

"Yatta!" Lee shouted as he began jumping around, "I did it Gai-sensei! I did it!"

"Congratulations Lee!" Gai enthused, "Now, you must make a promise to me. This technique is a Kinjutsu [Forbidden Art], and you must only use it if you must protect something very important."

Lee nodded, "I promise Gai-sensei!" he said before swaying, "Ugh, I don't feel so…"

Gai caught Lee just as he pitched over, dead asleep. He laid the spandex clad miniature of himself on the grass with a pleased laugh before walking over to where Naruto was standing back up and rubbing his calf.

"Whoa! What was that Gai-sensei?" Naruto asked in awe as he gaped at the crater the technique had left.

"That was the Ura Renge [Reverse Lotus]," Gai said with a grin, "It is a Ryuu technique that becomes available when you have mastered the first five stages of the ultimate sacrificial Kagayaki of the Konoha Senpuu Ryuu."

"Wow!" Naruto enthused, "Lee can already use one of those Kagayaki things you talked about?"

Gai nodded happily, "It is one of the simplest Kagayaki to learn, but for him to achieve it so soon shows just how brightly he burns," he said fondly as he propped Lee into a sitting position against a tree, "Now, let us continue to work on those motions…"

* * *

"AHHHH!" Naruto screamed as he flew through the trees before finally crashing into one hard enough to topple it onto him. He groaned as he shifted out from under it, really glad that the body reinforcement method was becoming one of his strengths. Gai-sensei had said that he already instinctually used it at a low level prior to beginning training, which made sense considering some of the beatings from Sasuke's fan girls he'd survived.

Naruto quickly replaced himself with a rock before bolting as quickly as he could to a new place and disappearing under the Kakuremino no Jutsu.

'What the hell was that freaky attack?" Naruto grumbled, 'I swear Kakashi-sensei is trying to kill us. He says he's using them on us so we have an idea how to react to junk, but I'm the only one he ever hits with this crap!'

A distance away Sasuke was in an all out assault on Kakashi while Sakura threw a half hearted kunai every once in a while. His frustration was only getting worse now that he had his Sharingan. He was seeing the jutsu Kakashi-sensei was using, but ones like this Fuuton: Diatoppa [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough] wouldn't work at all for him when he tried to practice them in the Uchiha compound courtyard.

He'd only managed to copy one jutsu he could actually use out of all of the 'survival training' Kakashi had been giving them, Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu [Fire Release: Art of the Mythical Fire Phoenix] and the quintuple fireballs it unleashed.

Even the moron's Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu didn't work like he'd hoped it would. It was a stupidly useless technique. While he could produce two clones, using them burned up so much energy so fast that he finally understood just how much of an idiot Naruto was. It was so pointlessly wasteful that it wasn't worth bothering with at all. He felt completely cheated out of the week and a half it had taken for him to even perform the technique right once he'd copied it.

As he unleashed his newly learned Katon: Hosenka on Kakashi the cyclopean bastard simply used the Kawarimi to escape, leaving a charred log behind where he had been.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he found himself caught in the 'slipstream' in between transport states the moment he had solidified where the log had just been. Being conscious during a Kawarimi didn't help much when you couldn't abort it midway to the exploding tags plastered on your destination. As soon as he landed on the branch where Naruto had been instants previous he leapt away from the explosion that immediately followed.

A ragged gasp ripped its way from his throat as a foot long wooden splinter shot through his bicep. The little bastard had used his own trick! Kakashi's eyes widened when Naruto crashed into him, wrapping around his waist as his hands completed the final seal of the Henge no Jutsu and his body warped into that of a massive snake with a diamond pattern on its back, its tail rattling wildly as the plummeted through the air. As its head reared back Kakashi watched in horror as its fangs slammed into the joint of his neck, pumping quarts of its necrotic venom into his carotid artery, jacking straight into his brain and beginning to destroy it.

The snake disappeared with a final hiss and Naruto howled in frustration as Kakashi melted into mud.

"Bullshit!" he yelled as he landed on the ground, "I call bullshit! Clones aren't allowed to take damage like that without dying!"

An instant later he was up to his neck in the earth and cursing as Kakashi swatted him on the nose with his orange book.

"Bad Naruto, no calling bullshit mid battle. That was the Doton: Daichi Bunshin no Jutsu [Earth Release: Art of the Earth Clone], and the Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu [Earth Release: Dual Suicide Decapitation Art] by the way," Kakashi said with a grin before disappearing once more.

Naruto sulked while trying to get free from the super-dense ground around him. While he tried to writhe free he thought about the differences between the Daichi Bunshin and the others he'd seen. It did feel unusually solid, and when he'd used the Kawarimi with it, he'd had to use extra chakra because it was heavier than it should have been. He hadn't thought about it at the time, but when he compared it to the other times he'd used the Kawarimi with Kakashi-sensei it did feel quite different. The only other difference was the taste, though he doubted how often he would be _biting_ an enemy. The snake transformation had been more of a crazy idea than any real planned out tactic. It had certainly dealt with the Daichi Bunshin though.

It was a bit frustrating that he couldn't rely on his eyes for those sorts of split second decisions though. If he'd had more time to intently focus on Kakashi he would have seen the jutsu seals, but it had been so fast paced that he hadn't even been able to look long enough to confirm a chakra network.

The eyes were really cool, but it seemed that they became less and less useful the looser his focus was. Keeping a paranoid eye out in every direction reduced his focus down to little better than 'mundane' X-ray vision. Except for looking inside large solid or liquid things like the ground or a lake; the combined difficulty of focusing enough to see through it and scanning about it caused a lack of focus that was the reason he'd missed so much of Kakashi-sensei's fight with Zabuza when he'd asked him about it later. He just wasn't strong enough with his doujutsu to maintain intense enough focus to both see through things like ground and mist clearly, and catch everything that happened inside them.

"Maybe I should try to train that sort of thing?" Naruto mused, "If I can use these eyes better then I might not get caught by stupid clones that I don't have enough time to get a good look at."

He'd managed to free one arm when he heard Haku plop down next to him.

"They already left so I had to come over here," she said by way of explanation, remaining as closed lipped otherwise as she had been all day. She had seemed distracted all of the time as though trying to come to some sort of internal resolution

"You aren't going to help me are you?" Naruto asked and Haku smirked before inhaling directly above his hair before grimacing, pinching her nose and making a waving motion as though to clear his smell.

"Well, you certainly aren't a sunflower, even if you've been planted quite well," she said, finally partaking in the mockery she'd abstained from in favor of just being cold most of the day, seemingly having arrived at her decision, "And no, you're doing fine on your own."

Naruto groaned half heartedly as he managed to wiggle his other arm free and pull his body the rest of the way out of the ground, mainly because it had begun to soften and loosen once more now that Kakashi-sensei was nowhere nearby.

"Hey, do you know how he put me under there?" Naruto asked as he brushed himself off.

"The Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu?" Haku asked and Naruto nodded, "Yes, it's one of the simplest of the Doton techniques."

"Don't you need a manipulation to use them though?" Naruto asked and Haku shook her head.

"You need either an ambient source of an element or a manipulation. If you're on a mountaintop where there's only hard stone and no loose earth or weak rocks like sandstone that can be broken down easily by the jutsu, or at sea, you can only use Doton jutsu with the manipulation, however most ninja know a handful just because loose earth is such a common environment," Haku said with a shrug, "It's kind of like how my manipulation is wind, but I know a lot of Suiton jutsu. Mizu no Kuni is an island, though it used to encompass the whole archipelago, so Kiri ninja usually have a source of water nearby on their home terrain."

"I thought you had an ice manipulation or something," Naruto said in confusion.

"There's no such thing as an ice manipulation you dolt," Haku said, "It's just a genetic ability to mix two different types of chakra. Since I only have a wind manipulation I can mix my natural wind element with the water chakra derived from the ambient source to form ice. Of course on snowy terrain anyone could use Hyouton [Ice Release] techniques since the energies are already mixed together in the ambient environment. My kekkei genkai just allows me to blend them artificially."

"Huh," Naruto said with a grimace, "So I can learn Doton jutsu?"

"Assuming you had someone who was actually willing to teach you," Haku said with a smirk before standing up, "Well, I'm hungry, can we get something to eat?"

"Wait! Do you know how to use it?" he asked curiously and Haku turned and chewed on a finger as though she were thinking about a particularly hard test question.

"Yes," she said before turning around and starting to walk away.

"Well??" Naruto asked in exasperation.

"Well what?" Haku replied innocently.

"Will you teach me?" Naruto pleaded.

"No," Haku said with a triumphant smirk, "A ninja carefully guards their jutsu."

"What? No fair!" Naruto whined.

* * *

A kunai whizzed through the air and buried into the paw of a rabbit moving at a dead run sending it tumbling. A moment later three more kunai thudded into the rest of its paws while it shrieked in pain before the last nicked its spinal column just deep enough that its hind legs stopped thrashing but without severing any vital arteries.

"I guess that works for a capture," Sasuke said with a shrug as he reached the terrified rabbit and wrapped his hand around its neck to keep it from biting him while he removed his kunai, "Now I just have to be able to do that every time."

He turned his back from the squalling rabbit and walked off, deep in thought before tossing a glance back at it, "Eh, I'm not really that hungry. If it keeps squalling like that a predator will find it soon enough," he said before continuing onward while cleaning his kunai off and tucking them back away.

He made his way out of the woods and into the Uchiha compound proper before taking a seat on the steps of his family home. He'd refused to move out. The presence of the ghosts that haunted him when he was there only strengthened his resolve. They made him stronger, kept him from faltering from his path when he was younger and was unsure that vengeance was what was needed.

He leaned back and rubbed his temples to rid himself of the tingling headache that using the Sharingan for extended periods caused. It wasn't even truly a headache, and he couldn't maintain it long at all. Even though it was significantly less drain than Kakashi-sensei's implanted eye, the Sharingan was still a chakra hog. Sasuke could only keep his active for five minutes of full speed combat before he needed to turn it off to keep from flagging.

Still, those five minutes were enough for the 'headache' to start. It felt as though there were worms crawling out of the backs of his eyes and into his skull, little trickles of tingling. It wasn't even really painful. It just felt weird and exhilarating, like running at top speed, or fighting against someone with such a power disparity that it was a mockery of the enemy's skills. The only real headache came when you had to stop using it, then everything just felt sort of flat and empty in a manner completely different in feel from chakra exhaustion. He just wished he had enough power to maintain it longer.

Practice with Team Seven was starting to become annoying. While he still trashed Naruto in taijutsu spars he could see that he was getting better, and it was very worrying. Yesterday Naruto had done some sort of sidestep and pivot that was slightly faster than even he could accomplish and it had opened him up so that the blinding side kick that followed it actually struck home. It was even faster than he could react, though he refused to admit, even to himself, that it scared him.

The 'survival training' Kakashi-sensei was always giving them was even more frustrating. He felt like he was falling behind, even if all of that moron's successes were by cheating. Neither of them had come close to even touching Kakashi-sensei but seeing the moron get closer to it than he did was not acceptable. Kakashi-sensei wasn't even teaching them anything. The only useful technique he'd learned was another fire jutsu.

He'd been sure that Naruto had been getting extra training, but when he'd trailed him he only saw that stupid ice bitch helping him with his fuuinjutsu, practicing the useless academy jutsu or meditating. It was like the moron was becoming stronger out of nowhere. He was supposed to be catching up with Itachi but he was only falling further and further behind. Naruto and Sakura were only holding him back. Since the debacle in Nami no Kuni, Kakashi had refused to take another C-Rank until they'd 'recovered', which meant he hadn't had a chance to learn any new jutsu from foreign shinobi.

Shaking his thoughts away he stood and headed inside, his hunger finally overcoming his frustration.

* * *

"Danzou-sama," the girl said with a bow as she set a dossier on his desk, "This was brought in by one of Ne [Root]."

Like all of Ne, she possessed no true name, not even an identification number, and referred to themselves corporately, rather than as individuals. Danzou made a dismissive motion with his hand and she quickly left the office, anxious to escape the room containing her lord, who was notorious for his short temper in late March from the ache the weather caused in his joints.

Danzou picked up the dossier and flipped through it, frowning deeply at its contents. It was a message from one of his agents, given the name "Dan" for the duration of the operation. The report detailed a conversation between the traitor Orochimaru and his lieutenant Kabuto. In it his agent had discovered that Orochimaru intended to place the Ten Juin [Cursed Seal of Heaven] on the Uchiha scion.

Danzou frowned, "Orochimaru-kun… just what is the method behind your madness? You know that it cannot fully control an Uchiha. Even the imperfect method of implanting the Akuma no Naizai cannot overcome the instability of the Sharingan…" he muttered before his eyes widened and he pulled his desk open and pulled out another dossier and flipped it open, hastily pulling a photograph from it.

The picture was of a tree, its bark scraped off and a message written by the bloody finger of the corpse at the base of the tree. He had been one of Ne who had been dispatched to gather intelligence on Orochimaru. Written on the tree were two words, 'Fushi Tensei' [Immortality Reincarnation]. Danzou threw the picture on the desk and rubbed his forehead before his frown turned into a smirk.

"He must have perfected the Ten Juin, managed to give it the full Akuma no Naizai. He intends to tame the madness of the Uchiha with it and take the body for himself… to pit one true evil against the other and rule the body while the two are locked in conflict…" Danzou said before chuckling.

"That would make the Uchiha boy actually worthwhile," he said slowly, "Perhaps he'll be a better student than you, no Orochimaru-kun? Perhaps he will not falter and become careless in his insecurities and grief."

The silence in the room was his only answer.


	11. Chapter 11

[AN:] Selfish, annoying and irrelevant sarcastic comment by me toward a recent critique of butchery of the Japanese language removed. Many apologies. Hope you enjoy this chapter, I had trouble getting it written, and as always I'm not satisfied. I'm starting to anticipate finally completing this whole segment of the story and being able to go back and edit it into something I can be happy with, but that's still a long way off.

Problem with divider placing fixed.

[/AN]

* * *

Naruto hurried to the door to answer the incessant knocking. He adjusted the white civilian long jacket he was wearing and lifted his mask. Even in the privacy of his home he kept it around his neck, even if it wasn't pulled up. Beyond hiding the compulsive nosebleeds he'd realized it just plain made him look cool.

He paused for a moment before reaching the door as he saw who was beyond it. It was one of those white eyed guys like the old guy who had talked to him after he'd hurt his eyes. With a tug the door squeaked open and he peered at the slightly uncomfortable boy, who couldn't be any more than a year younger than he was.

"Hello? Can I help you?" Naruto asked in his best attempt at polite behavior. Half of the reason he bothered being more polite recently rested at the feet of Haku. She seemed especially abusive when he was rude, but let off quite a bit when he pretended he had 'manners'.

"Uzumaki Naruto-dono," the boy said as though the words nearly choked him, "Hyuuga Hiashi-sama has invited you and your parolee to attend a formal dinner at the Hyuuga estates in one week's time."

The boy handed over an envelope with the Hyuuga seal on the flap of the envelope. Naruto was quite surprised and unsure exactly what to do, so he simply bowed and returned a simple, "Thank you."

The boy gave a polite and uncomfortable nod before he disappeared at a quick pace leaving Naruto marveling at the exchange as he closed the door.

"What was that?" Haku asked as she walked back into his apartment. The fabric of one of the pink kimono she'd begun wearing again whispered as she walked toward him. He'd stitched the fabric he'd purchased into the same style as the one he had first seen her in.

"It's an invitation from those Hyuuga guys," Naruto said while staring at the letter with a confused expression before breaking the seal, "It's for both of us, to uh, eat there. What's a hakama?"

"You don't know what it is?" she asked before sighing, "Of course not. It's a man's formal divided skirt."

"Oh! So that's what it is. I knew that. I just didn't know what it was called," Naruto said with a goofy grin, "So the haori thing has to be the coat, right? I'm supposed to wear that sort of junk to the dinner. I don't get why anyone would get all dressed up to eat though."

Haku just shook her head without commenting, "I'll help you find one, okay? Like you said just a minute ago, 'it's alright', I'll help you" she said with a laugh.

Naruto eyed her nervously. Her 'helpfulness' the past several days made him feel like a deer living in close proximity to a pack of wolves who, so far, hadn't gotten too hungry.

"Fine, I'll help you get one that _doesn't_ make you look like an idiot," Haku said, rolling her eyes. Keeping him all jumpy and paranoid was almost better than tripping him down flights of stairs or face first into disgusting things.

Naruto shrugged before replying, "I really have no clue what to do. I'm not even gonna wonder why that old guy wants me to eat over there. It's just strange that on my first real day off this would show up."

"It really is weird, isn't it?" Haku called from the small room between the kitchen and his bedroom that was nominally the 'sitting room', "Gai-sensei's team is out on a mission and your team isn't meeting this weekend. It's like there's nothing to do for once."

Naruto shrugged as he re-entered the room, "I already sent out a clone to find a spot to make a few more and read and talk over that new book Gai-sensei gave me," he said with a grin, "I had to promise to let them go swimming afterward, but it's worth not being stuck reading myself on my first full day off of training. Besides, they deserve at least a little happiness."

Haku shuddered silently. Whenever he spoke as though his Kage Bunshin were separate or unique individuals it gave her the creepy crawlies. He acted like they died when he dispelled them. She didn't know the first thing about the technique, but it was still incredibly creepy to hear him treat it like that.

"I hope those sorts of clothes aren't too expensive," Naruto said with a frown, "I've really dipped into my savings lately and it's already going to take longer than I wanted in order to save up enough."

"Enough for what? You've mentioned it like half a dozen times, but you never say what you're pinching pennies for. You're like a miser," Haku said and gave a shake of her head in frustration as she remembered some of his more 'creative' methods of getting by with the least amount of expense possible.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. Sometimes he was really grateful his mask concealed most of his embarrassment.

"It's kind of stupid," he admitted sheepishly, "It's just… when I was little, I always wanted to know who my parents were. I asked Jiji if he could find them soon after I started ninja training, but he told me that it required an S-rank mission to find out that sort of thing on a ninja, because of how dangerous researching into a ninja's personal background can be, but he said that if I get strong enough to take S-rank missions he'd let me hire myself to do it."

"Wait… what?" Haku replied when confusion set in, "S-rank?"

So many things about Naruto never added up right. It wasn't just his incredible ignorance and his hidden brilliance, or the fact that he had an incredible kekkei genkai. That he was despised was entirely at odds with living in a village famous for adoring those who carried them. The way everyone treated him like a loser when it was obvious just from watching him improve that he was a true genius was another inconsistency that bothered her to no end.

However this was even stranger. Paternity research missions were always C-rank, unless the person they were searching for the parents of was of higher rank and then it matched the ninja's rank. For a ninja personally requesting their paternity be discovered, it was hardly ever higher than a C-rank, assuming that the search even required the person tracking down the paternity to even leave a village.

Naruto nodded, "I'm a long way away from being able to afford it though. It's why I'm trying to save up every bit I can. I've already blown through a quarter of what I made in the casino I went to before. Between that and the lack of missions," he said before trailing off and offering a shrug, "Sorry I've been such a penny pincher."

Haku frowned deeply enough to wrinkle her forehead. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the price was so unusual. The only reasons she could come up with would be if his parents were somehow high profile and the knowledge could be dangerous. Her frown deepened as she thought about the conflicting images of the Sandaime Hokage treating Naruto like a grandchild, or at least a favorite nephew, and his status as an orphan whom everyone seemed to naturally disdain.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked as he stood in front of the window.

"Get a haircut," Haku snapped, unwilling to discuss the issues that had been niggling at the back of her mind for weeks like an itch she couldn't quite scratch, "You've let it get long. You've been refusing to have it cut so you could buy the fabric for these dresses, haven't you?"

Naruto blushed again under his mask and once it faded he lowered his mask and shrugged.

"I dunno. I think I look good with it a little longer. I look like a lion," he said with a bright laugh, "Or I could tie it in back and let the rest hang down."

He turned to the side and held the back part of his hair back, as though in a ponytail and the light struck him from the side, illuminating the folds of his white coat in the red dawn light, as though dancing flames licked up it. Haku's eyes went wide and she gasped before falling out of her chair.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked as he rushed to her side.

"Bingo book," she mumbled as her brain misfired, "Namikaze… erp?"

"What?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"You just looked like someone from Zabuza-sama's old bingo books for a second there," she said as she calmed herself and pushed away the absurd thought the physical resemblance brought on. After all, he could be a Yamanaka just as easily, though beyond the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, there weren't that many natural blonds in Konoha at all, and of those she knew of currently, other than the Yondaime, only the Yamanaka had blue eyes, like she'd been told Naruto possessed before his accident, as well. Besides the bingo book never mentioned any sort of healing kekkei genkai possessed by the Yondaime Hokage.

"Who?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It's stupid," Haku said with a dismissive wave, "It's just the longer hair."

"Tell me!" Naruto pleaded, "It could be a hint to who my parents are."

Haku snorted, "I doubt it," she said, "You looked like Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, for a moment there."

Naruto laughed, "You're right, that is kinda silly," he said, "Like they'd really seal the… shit."

His eyes were wide open and he clamped his hands over his mouth at the slip of his tongue.

"Seal what?" Haku demanded as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, a confirmation of a growing suspicion, "Does this have to do with the seal on your stomach? Damnit, just tell me something! You're confusing as hell, and you don't tell me anything."

Naruto looked horrified and backed away, "I can't," he whispered, "It's a secret."

Haku huffed, "Fine then," she said as she stared hard at him while her mind, something she'd always considered her sharpest tool, worked hard to puzzle it out from the evidence in front of her.

"You've got something sealed into you. You have whisker marks on your face. You have a kekkei genkai I've never heard of. Everyone seems to despise you even though Konoha is renowned for its adoration of kekkei genkai. You're an orphan who has the interest of the Hokage. You bear a striking resemblance to Namikaze Minato," she said, listing what she knew out loud before slapping her own forehead, "Jinchuuriki. Demons are used to create bloodlines too powerful to develop otherwise. Konoha was attacked by the Kyuubi no Kitsune… and it was defeated by the Yondaime."

"Oh sweet Susanoo," she whispered as she stared at an increasingly terrified Naruto, who had effectively confirmed her guess, "You look like the Yondaime because he sealed it into the only person he could trust with a kekkei genkai created using the Okami Bijuu [King of Tailed Beasts]. You're Namikaze Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

Naruto fainted dead away, hitting the floor with a dull thump.

* * *

"Sakura, honey," her mother's voice called from downstairs and Sakura bounded down the steps to find her mother waiting.

"Is daddy home momma?" Sakura asked hopefully. Her father had left on business to the capitol the day she had been told those horrible things by Haku. She still hadn't had an opportunity to talk to him, and she'd begun to feel uncomfortable around Sasuke-kun and a bit disappointed in herself for even giving it a second thought.

"No sweetie, but he sent a message ahead that he'd be here by tonight," her mother said, "There's someone waiting for you in the kitchen. It's been a while since I've seen you and Ino together. Are you two finished with your problems?"

Sakura looked confused and shook her head before walking into the kitchen and saw Ino sitting there in her purple dress with a tired look on her face. Her appearance immediately made Sakura uncomfortable. Ino never let herself look that worn out, even when she was completely exhausted. She was too vain to ever admit, or let herself look like she was tired.

"Hi Sakura," Ino said and Sakura was surprised at the absence of the usual taunting, "Do you have any time to get lunch?"

"Umm, I guess," Sakura replied nervously and followed Ino out of the house as her curiosity became too much, "So what's going on?"

Ino sighed, "Is it that obvious?" she asked and blew the lock of hair she always let hang down outside of her ponytail out of her eyes, "It's just tough stuff. It's scary isn't it? Being a kunoichi for real?"

Sakura shifted uncomfortably as Ino's words reminded her of her discussion with Haku, "Uh, maybe, I guess. What happened? Did you get hurt on a mission?" she asked, briefly terrified that one of the things Haku had mentioned may have happened. Even if they weren't friends anymore she still sort of cared about Ino, and would never wish something that horrible on anyone. Relief flooded her when Ino shook her head.

"It's Shikamaru," Ino said, making Sakura's head spin.

"Shikamaru got hurt on a mission? Wait, why would you look all tired because of it?" Sakura asked curiously.

"No, it was his father," Ino said softly, "Shikaku-san, umm; you know what the Nara clan does for the village, right?"

Sakura shook her head.

"They're head hunters, assassins for the village by contract," Ino said, "It's why they're paired with my family and Chouji's, because between the incredible straightforward power of the Akamichi clan and information extraction and battlefield control effects of my clan it forms a natural and powerful combination, one controller, one defender, and one striker."

"So what happened?" Sakura asked, unnerved at how Ino wasn't using her 'gossip' voice, but rather that worried tone she'd saved for Sakura alone during their early years in the academy.

"He was murdered while hunting down a ninja from Kumo," Ino said with a faraway look, "I was at the funeral. The person who did it took out his heart and sold his head to Kumo for the bounty. I heard my father talking to Chouji's when he was drunk that he was sure it was a missing nin named Kakuzu from Taki no Kuni."

"Oh… I'm sorry I guess. Your dad and his were close, right?" Sakura asked.

Ino nodded, "Shikamaru's been different since then. I mean he's still Shikamaru, but now he's so serious it's scary. My father says it's because Shikamaru has to work as hard as possible to become a jounin and assume the position as the head of his clan, so that they won't be without a leader for too long," she said with a frown, "It's like he's growing up, and dragging us all with him. I…"

"We spend all day training now. Before Asuma-sensei went easy on us, but since Shikamaru stepped up the pace it's like we all have to work ourselves senseless, and I refuse to be left behind by someone as naturally lazy as Shikamaru," she said with a scowl, "My parents and Chouji's have decided that it's time we really started learning our responsibilities. I mean, sure the Yamanaka clan have only been ninja for three generations, unlike Shikamaru's clan and Chouji's were samurai for nearly three hundred years while we were still merchants, but it's still a lot to live up to. Some of the things really bother me too."

"Like what?" Sakura asked, wondering if Ino had heard the same thing about Sasuke, "Is it about the Uchiha curse or something? I've heard about that superstitious junk, but I don't believe it."

Ino shook her head, "My father told me that it wasn't a foregone conclusion. He said that he was Itachi-san's psychological monitor when he was in the ANBU and that he managed to control it… oh shit," she cursed, something that Ino nearly never did, even in her tantrums, "Please forget I said that. It's an issue of patient confidentiality."

"Wait?! It's real?" Sakura asked in disbelief, "Isn't Itachi Sasuke's older brother, the one who killed his clan?"

Ino sighed and rubbed her temples. Sometimes she really wished her father hadn't begun to actually tell her things and make her learn about the other clans.

"Look, it's complicated, okay Sakura? I don't want to talk about it. I'm sure that Sasuke can learn to control it though, he just needs help. I don't believe any of the supernatural junk. My father says it's just a strange genetic variant of bipolar disorder, an even more unstable evolution of it, but something that can still be treated if not cured," Ino said, a bit surprised at the words coming out of her mouth. She couldn't believe how grown up she sounded.

Sakura was strangely silent until they arrived at the food stand and ordered.

"So you've been training a lot?" Sakura asked to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah. My father is making me develop my skill with the Nawanuke no jutsu because it's sort of related to our clan's abilities somehow. I still don't get his explanation though. He's also gotten really strict about making sure I learn enough of our clan techniques and how we work as a clan in order to be accepted when the time comes," she said as she focused on her food, leaving Sakura aghast at the amount Ino was eating.

"Wow, Kakashi-sensei just makes us try to keep from getting beaten up while he goes at us," Sakura said and Ino shrugged.

"You were always good enough at the core arts that you didn't need to catch up like I did. That's what Asuma-sensei says. He's only just started us on mock combat scenarios so we get some experience fighting against enemies with unknown abilities," Ino commented around a mouthful of rice, "You're lucky you got put on such a strong team. Your sensei must be amazing if he's gotten you all to that stage already."

"Wha?" Sakura asked in confusion, "Umm, well, Sasuke-kun is as amazing as ever. He's gotten even stronger. But our teacher is lazy and always late, and Naruto is still an idiot… well sort of."

Ino watched the expressions on Sakura's face as they flicked past.

"I'm actually worried about Naruto," Sakura said while biting her lip, "Ever since he started spending so much time around Haku, a ninja who got recruited when we were in Nami no Kuni he's gotten weird. He doesn't intentionally act stupid so I'll hit him anymore, and it's been throwing me off. I mean, that's always been our thing you know?"

Ino snorted, "You and Naruto have a 'thing'?" she said before slurping at her milkshake, "That's news to me. I always thought it was because you and I were the queens of the academy and he was a Zero. Even Butakuri was more popular than Naruto."

Both girls shuddered at the memory of the morbidly obese asshole with poor personal hygiene.

"You know what I mean," Sakura said rolling her eyes, "He annoys me and I hit him and all is right with the world. But now he's always watching things and it's creepy. He's still an idiot, you know? But two days ago he beat Sasuke-kun in one of our straight taijutsu spars. It was really strange, because he's a lot slower and weaker than Sasuke-kun, but suddenly his whole body blurred as he whipped all the way around at the waist and hit him."

Sakura's eyes became distant as her terror at that moment hit her again, "Naruto looked so shocked after it happened, and Sasuke… I was really scared because I heard something snap, but Haku-san managed to stabilize him and repair his ribs enough for him to get to the hospital. That's why we didn't even have a team meeting this morning, because Sasuke-kun has to take it easy on his ribs for a day or two more," she said before shaking herself like a wet cat to chase away the memory.

"That's way weird," Ino said with wide eyes, "Naruto was always so slow in the Academy, just barely faster than a normal person who didn't use chakra. If he were much slower he wouldn't have been any faster than a civilian martial artist."

Sakura nodded, "And he's the one Kakashi-sensei focuses on the most in practice. Not in a good way though. It's just that he's the target of the most damaging and complex attacks. Kakashi-sensei says it's because he's targeting the weak link in the team, but I'm not stupid," she said with a frown.

Ino nodded as she leaned forward and listened to Sakura. While most people thought she was a gossip, in truth she was more of a listener. She had a great capacity for insight into relationships between people, at least when they didn't involve her directly, but she wasn't the best at intense observation or linear reasoning. It's why when she and Sakura had been friends she'd been the person she'd gossiped to the most. Sakura's habit of thinking out loud and the big brain that hid behind her forehead helped Ino fill in the blanks. Even now she was more than willing to listen to Sakura's 'rants'.

"Naruto scares me," Sakura finally whispered, "Physically I can still beat him in a strict fight, and I've started training really hard since our mission to Nami no Kuni, mainly to get Sasuke-kun's attention away from Haku-san. He watches her all the time, even if I know she doesn't like him, and I'm pretty sure it's because she's so strong. Naruto isn't as strong of a fighter as Sasuke-kun or as smart as I am, but he does things by improvisation that works out better than some of my best plans."

"Then it must mean that when you all work together your team is really strong," Ino said in interested tones. If Sakura was willing to give credit even to Naruto, Team Seven had to be really dangerous, considering it had the two best students in the class on it, and Naruto must have gotten a lot better in the past four months too.

Sakura gave a mirthless laugh, "Our teamwork sucks," she said glumly, "It's so frustrating, all of it."

"It does? I would have thought that between your 'thing' with Naruto and Sasuke-kun on your team it would be great," Ino said with a smirk and Sakura scowled.

"It's not that we can't make plans or follow them, it's just that we don't instinctively act like a unit. Naruto will run impromptu screens to get us out of trouble, and I try to set up tactical formations, you know, but it's still not all coming together," Sakura said discontentedly, "We don't have the 'synergy' Iruka-sensei always talked about."

Ino just nodded. She could see whatever Sasuke-kun and Naruto had going on between them would probably foul up any sort of synergy, so it was expectable.

"Ahh, that's really where our team shows its strength. We're probably not anywhere near Sasuke-kun's level, even if Shika has gotten really strong since then, but we work together really well," Ino said with a shrug.

"So piggy," Sakura said with a smirk, "Why did you want to talk with me?"

Ino shrugged, "No reason really billboard brow. I just wanted to talk to someone who wasn't a guy," she said, "It's a bit much, spending as much time with my team as I do these days."

Sakura laughed, "I know how that goes. Sasuke-kun is great, but being around Naruto and Kakashi all the time makes me want to tear my hair out in frustration," she said before continuing slowly, "This doesn't mean we're friends again though."

"Of course not," Ino said with a smirk, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

Sasuke winced as he stretched after his morning jog. His ribs were fine, but they wanted him to 'rest' anyway, until they weren't sore anymore. He couldn't afford to waste that much time though. He had to increase his mastery over his eyes. He still wasn't to the point where he could copy things perfectly at a glance, and most of the genjutsu it offered were still beyond his reach until he reached the fifth stage. If he could fully mature it though, he was certain that little would be able to stop his growth, and Itachi would be within sight.

A sudden prickling on the back of his neck, a sensation made familiar by his practices with Kakashi, made him roll away immediately as a trio of shuriken spun through where his back had been a moment ago.

'An attack?!' he thought as his mind kicked into fight mode and his Sharingan activated.

His eyes flicked around him for a moment before he sensed a branch in a distant tree that wasn't swaying properly and glared up at it.

"I know exactly where you are," he called out, "If you value your life you'll leave now."

A small smile spread across his face as the hope that the intruder wouldn't flee filled him. He needed a way to burn off his growing frustration. The person who threw those shuriken couldn't be that fast or he would have never dodged them in time. His eyes narrowed and his tomoe spun as three people moved from the tree line at once. They looked similar to the ANBU, save for the masks. They weren't in animal forms, but instead each mask bore the word 'Ne' on it.

The surreally fluid motions of the beings revealed them to be clones even before they stepped within the yet limited range of his stage four Sharingan. They weren't any sort of clone he'd seen before with the Sharingan, though his experience was notably limited to Kage Bunshin and standard Genbunshin. Maybe whoever was controlling them would display it for him to copy.

"Sending clones to do your work?" Sasuke taunted as they moved within range, "You'll have to do better than that."

"I have," a toneless voice echoed in his ear, just as a knee slammed into his healing ribs and he screamed in pain as he tried to land softly. The clones had disappeared as well.

"Your skills have not impressed me," the masked person, whose voice and height showed he couldn't be much older than Sasuke himself, spoke.

Sasuke hissed as he stopped clutching his ribs and stood, sending a spike of pain through himself before dashing forward and attacking. His hand passed straight through the boy and he frowned. He must have escaped somehow and left behind a Genbunshin, given that the boy's body was covered in the inky patterns that always appeared after a jutsu was used. He hadn't gotten a close read on how he'd done it, as the threads of chakra had emerged from the boy's body, rather than his hands, to form whatever jutsu he had used. The jutsu had been too fast for him to analyze it's components as it came together, at least without some down time to go over the memory.

The air blew out of him as the Genbunshin struck him with a thrust kick to the same weak ribs again. It was no longer covered in jutsu marks. They had suddenly faded all of the sudden, much to his confusion. Sasuke recovered well and his foot caught the Ne agent on the chin, putting enough distance between them for him to catch his breath. As he reviewed the memories of the blindingly fast jutsu he realized that it had been a sealless performance of the Nawanuke, just like Kakashi said could be done at high levels of mastery with the Rope Shedding art. It hadn't seemed that useful to him at the time, but he had just seen living proof of it.

As he dashed forward again he saw the process repeat itself, but he slipped around and wrapped a garrote of ninja wire, which Kakashi-sensei had said prevented the jutsu from passing through it, around his neck. The Ne agent gasped a ragged breath as Sasuke tightened the wire around his throat.

"You're no ANBU," Sasuke said with a smirk, "You're dead."

He jerked the wire as hard as he could and felt blood spray over his hands and a flood of satisfaction before it disappeared like fog on a hot day. It wasn't blood, but rather ink, and had coalesced into a message on the ground. He glared at it for several minutes before nodding and walking away toward the main house of the compound.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes and found Haku kneeling above him with a concerned look.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he remembered what she had said aloud and gasped.

"I… umm… I can't be… I'm nothing special," he stammered out as his brain tried to jumpstart itself.

"People don't seal Bijuu into 'nothing special'," Haku countered and Naruto began shaking as he stared up at her with wide eyes, "What's wrong?"

"Y-you aren't scared of me? You don't hate me?" he whispered in disbelief and Haku snorted.

"I come from a place where kekkei genkai are just as hated and feared as Jinchuuriki, like that of the Sanbi," Haku said with a scowl, "You're a lot less insane than the one I've seen, but you don't scare me at all."

Naruto's mouth flapped open and closed several times before Haku smirked.

"Why would I be scared of someone I could thrash while half conscious?" she said before standing up and walking over to the futon, "The fact that you're the son of an S-ranked shinobi that every other shinobi experienced terror at the mere sight of scares me more."

Naruto shook his head, as he sat up, still uneasy about someone knowing his secret and afraid that if he said the wrong thing she'd treat him like everyone else did. He was fine with being disliked for being himself, but he didn't think he could handle her treating him like everyone else did because of _it_.

"I can't be. Jiji wouldn't lie to me like that," Naruto said firmly, "It's just not possible."

Haku smirked, "Then why was the sole living student of the Yondaime Hokage assigned as your sensei?" she asked and Naruto's eyes widened.

"Kakashi-sensei was the Yondaime's student?" he whispered and Haku rolled her eyes before smiling.

"That's what I just said."

"I can't… no… I mean… they never told me about the Kyuubi either until Mizuki-sensei broke the law," he whispered in a voice laden with betrayal.

His eyes hardened, "We're going to see Jiji," he said in a steely voice as he headed toward the door.

"Wait Naruto! Are you sure this is the best idea?" Haku called out as she ran to catch up with him and barely took the time to lock the door behind her. By the time they reached the street Naruto's loss of control over his emotions had him leaking chakra like a sieve and it carried his emotional state imbued within it on the winds for all to feel. The sheer density of it and the intense emotion was almost enough to make bile rise in her throat, despite having felt Zabuza-sensei's "killing intent".

This wasn't the bloodthirsty hate, or rage that she felt before, something quite a few ninja honed into a weapon to paralyze weaker foes in terror. This filled her with cold, deep in the marrow of her bones and made her ache with a sense of loss and betrayal that felt worse than any other ki [spirit/mood] she'd felt before. It was human suffering, loneliness, desolation, mixed with the recurring image of Zabuza-sensei plunging Kubikire Houchou into her chest over and over while laughing at her for believing she was anything more than a plaything. Every step required that she shake the image from her mind and fight the urge to cry.

She barely noticed the birds dropping from the air, or the civilians along the roadside collapsing and vomiting. She just concentrated on walking, avoiding stumbling, as she moved through a haze of chakra as thick as any elite jounin could muster and laden with a decade of suffering and betrayal.

"Naruto-san! Get control of yourself!" a voice shouted and Haku realized they'd reached the Hokage's tower.

"Where is Sarutobi," Naruto said and the Anbu instantly went on guard at both the tone and the name used, rather than Naruto's usual term of endearment.

"Who are you?" the Anbu demanded as he slipped into a ready stance.

"Apparently not who I thought I was. Where is Sarutobi?" Naruto said, "He's up there, isn't he."

"I'm right here Naruto," the Hokage called from the steps while motioning for the Anbu to stand down, "Please, you're making the villagers ill. Get control of yourself."

Naruto's face turned into a sour grimace as he realized he was leaking chakra, and finally noticed the civilians disabled on the ground nearby.

"Let's go up to my office, and you can tell me what's wrong," Sarutobi said in a concerned grandfatherly tone.

Naruto glared at him but followed him up the steps anyway. Once the door closed and they were inside the office Naruto sneered at him and spat venomously, "When did you plan on telling me who my father was?"

Sarutobi blanched and quickly made hand seals, separating them off in a small bubble of reality away from the Anbu hidden under genjutsu in the room to give privacy.

"Who did you hear your father was?" Sarutobi asked softly, "And who told you?"

"Haku-chan figured it out first," Naruto said, not letting the cold steel slip from his voice and Haku blinked at the first reappearance of the familiar suffix, "But once the evidence looked me in the face it became obvious. You've hidden things from me before, and you're hiding them now. Tell me! Was the Yondaime my father?"

His voice had become a shout by the end of his sentence and Sarutobi winced.

"Not officially," Sarutobi whispered, "Or you would be dead already."

Naruto felt his legs give out from under him and he slumped into the chair before pressing his face into his hands to hide his tears at the confirmation of Haku's guess.

"I… he wanted to protect you," Sarutobi said softly, "His enemies, if you officially existed as his son, they would have never relented on killing you. As it is, you're no more in danger than any other blond in Konoha, even less so since your accident."

"Why?" Naruto asked as he raised his face, rivers of tears dripping from his chin, "Why hide it from me though?!"

Sarutobi removed his hat and sat it down on his desk as his face sagged.

"Because you were young," Sarutobi said in a weary voice, "And you couldn't have kept it a secret if your life depended on it. You still have trouble with it. I'm willing to bet that you provided her with the information she needed to puzzle it out."

He cast a heavy glance at Haku who shrunk back into her chair. He should have expected this to happen. Given her scores on the test battery she'd been given soon after beginning her probation period he should have known that her intellect and Naruto's tendency to let things 'slip' when he was agitated or excited would cause this.

Naruto bit his lip as his face scrunched up in pain, "I… I know… but it… it hurt so much. I was all alone. It would have at least made me feel… like I was somebody," he sobbed, "How could he do it? How could he do this to me?"

Sarutobi was still staring at Haku and trying to decide what to do about her. Haku bit her lip and looked away. She knew that she knew too much, far to much, even for a potential kunoichi of the village, to let leave alive.

"Naruto," Sarutobi said slowly, "You realize that this girl, with a word she could condemn you, correct? Do you trust her with your life? More importantly if I know anything about you, do you trust her with the lives of everyone important to you?"

Naruto looked horribly confused and scrubbed his eyes as he thought before looking hard at her and seeing the fear and pleading in her eyes.

"I do," he said and Sarutobi nodded.

"Your father, he loved you, and he wanted you to be able to survive the dangers he saw for you in the future. The seal doesn't just contain the demon. It is killing it. Devouring it to change your body. It isn't the Kyuubi willingly healing you. It is the kekkei genkai that the seal has consumed it's energy to implant," Sarutobi said, "It is his legacy, and his last gift to you before he died. Don't doubt that he loved you."

Naruto's stomach felt like it was twisted into knots, "My father left me to be hated, teased, treated like trash, and he thought that a little physical healing would fix those wounds?" he growled out, his eyes flashing red for a moment, "Let me guess, my mother's still alive and abandoned me for my own good too, right? Like you keep me in the dark for my own good. It's always for my own good! At least enemies can only hurt my body!"

Sarutobi reeled under the accusations; each landing like a physical blow before he finally slapped his hands down on the table.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted, "It wasn't meant to hurt you. It was meant to keep you safe, so that when you became Jounin you could publicly accept your heritage! Your mother, fresh from a hospital bed fought alongside your father just to buy enough time to perform the jutsu, to keep you alive, and give you the protection he did."

Naruto gave a wan smile, "I'll never become chuunin. I've realized that by now. I learned how Chuunin are picked, and unless I personally save the lives of every person in the village a dozen times over, they'd never let me advance," he said with a bitter laugh, "A cheap bloodline for a dream that cannot be fulfilled."

He grimaced before his face tightened and he slammed his fist into the arm of the chair with a hard look on his face, "Screw that. Even if I'm a genin forever, I'll still become Hokage! Even if my father left me to the wolves and my mother went with him, then I'll just have to become better than him, so that I won't do the same stupid things!" he shouted defiantly before laughing manically to keep from crying.

"I won't ever give up. I heal right? No matter what, as long as I'm alive, right? That means I won't get old. I'll just have to stay alive then. I can be patient. I can wait until every person who remembers that the Kyuubi ever existed has died and then I'll become Hokage! I'll be even stronger because of it!" he shouted before he lost momentum and dropped back into his chair, sobbing relentlessly.

He looked up as he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and saw that the Sandaime had moved to stand beside him with tears running down his face as well.

"You'll become a great Hokage, Naruto," Sarutobi said softly, "You look and act more like your father every day, but I think you really will surpass him. Don't discount your greatest ability though, one no bloodline could ever duplicate. Your ability to change people's hearts will win out someday."

Naruto blinked up at him through blurry eyes and Sarutobi smiled and for the first time in his life Naruto was hugged. When the old man pulled away Naruto was staring at him in surprise.

"You make an old man strong enough to carry on long past his time," Sarutobi said as he moved back around the desk and sat down, "You have the will of fire, and it will eventually warm the hearts of those who cannot yet see who you really are."

Naruto bit his lip and nodded slowly as he tried to come to terms with the warmth that flooded his chest after being hugged, flushing the pain away.

"I guess… this means I'll have to work even harder, right?" Naruto asked softly, "Umm, I just have one question. Did the Yondaime, I mean, my father, leave anything behind for me?"

Sarutobi smiled, "Well, your father was a simple man. He refused to move into the Hokage estates even after he'd earned the title. In fact, your apartment is the only one in the complex that is actually owned by a person, you. Your father lived there even after he became Hokage," Sarutobi said and Naruto's face brightened.

"You mean Froggy was his? I found it under the floorboards!" Naruto said with wide eyes as he thought about his wallet and Sarutobi nodded.

"Your father didn't leave much in the way of ninjutsu techniques for you," Sarutobi said, "He didn't really have that many techniques either, only a bare handful of D-rank elemental ninjutsu that most ninja pick up by the time they've spent a year or two as chuunin, the Tajuu Kage Bunshin, and his own attack jutsu. The rest were fuuinjutsu that he never wrote down. He only explained enough of the Shiki Fujin for me to copy a reconstruction of it onto the scroll of Kinfuuin, and his others were never committed to paper."

"Oh," Naruto said as his heart fell.

"Wait, how did he become Hokage with so few jutsu?" Haku asked in confusion and Sarutobi laughed.

"Because he was the kind of oddball genius who made one jutsu do the work of twenty. He was a true master of each of the core techniques, and he researched the few other jutsu he used to such depth that he could do things with them that still astound me," Sarutobi said as he reminisced over his successor, "But his Fuuinjutsu skills were the most impressive. He controlled any battlefield he fought on using them, dictating the pace. His unconventional understanding of that art led him to create techniques that no one has been able to duplicate, like his famous Hirashin, a technique that removed the delay time, mass conservation and line of sight limitations from the Kawarimi no jutsu. He broke the back of an entire Iwa battalion moving for a surgical strike against the Shogunate the first time he used it in battle."

Naruto grinned broadly at the thought that his fuuinjutsu weren't a 'waste of time' like Sasuke said.

"I don't have any jutsu scrolls that I could give you, but he did entrust his journal to me," Sarutobi said as he wiped his blood along the bottom of one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a slab of black glass with a stylized lock carved into the center of it, "He said that you should be able to read it with a little blood and chakra on the lock in the center."

Naruto hungrily accepted the book and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood before pressing it against the lock and pushing chakra into it. The slab of glass warped and popped open, becoming a simple leather bound journal, if a bit thick. He quickly glanced inside at the first pages.

"_Stupid Jiraiya-sensei wants me to start writing a journal to 'put some damn order' to my thoughts. Umm I guess I'll just write about what I'm working on right now. I've been pestering Mikoto-chan to write down the 'squiggly things' she sees when she watches me do the Henge with her Sharingan. I think they may be Fuuin. I'm gonna see if I can get her to help me figure out if hand signs are like fuuinjutsu. I've got a feeling about it."_

The rest of the page was filled with intricate designs and the placeholder notation used in the other fuuinjutsu book Naruto had been given. He flipped ahead to the next page and it was a drawing of hands in various positions with little strands bending this way and that. Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at the pattern of lines he saw every time he performed the Henge drawn in the lines emerging from the hands. The next few pages were of different hand seals and pictures of Fuuin and lots of angry and frustrated comments before the final page showed a modified single hand sign, like the ones he'd taught Lee, but requiring the ability to control it outside the body to bend it in the right way.

"_Haha! I'm right! Jiraiya-sensei nearly crapped himself when I turned into Tsunade-sama with a single hand sign right when he went to punch me. I pulled it off fast enough to actually beat Jiraiya-sensei! Who knew he turned into a sniveling crying wreck whenever someone who looks like Tsunade-sama goes to punch him?"_

The next two pages were a list of ideas he wanted to try out using exploding tags for, including scaling it down and somehow using several of it's component sigils to cook ramen.

Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head and he closed the book as a huge grin spread across his face. The book wavered for a moment before becoming a slab of black glass with a lock on it once more.

"Thank you so much Jiji!" Naruto cried out as a massive smile nearly split his face, "This is the coolest!"

Sarutobi smiled broadly, "I don't think I need to tell you how important it is that you never let anyone see that unsealed. It may be a glorified paperweight otherwise, but if someone finds it lying around open, it's as good as a signed death warrant for you," he cautioned and Naruto nodded.

"As for what your mother left behind, you should be safe with it. It's a book on hand sign exercises and tricks to build speed amongst other things. She was a ninjutsu artist, and some of your father's ideas went into it. Other than that it was mainly a bunch of photographs, clothing, kitchen appliances, furniture and ninja tools," Sarutobi said, "If I remember properly she said she hid that manuscript inside a loose panel on the wall in the right corner of the bedroom closet, nearest to the window, in what is now Haku-san's room. She always intended to publish it one day, but never got around to it."

Naruto nodded rapidly.

"So, are you alright?" Sarutobi asked and both teens burst into laughter before answering in unison.

"It's alright."

Sarutobi crooked an eyebrow but dropped the privacy jutsu before the two scurried out of his office. He shook his head as he removed the cloth pouch from his desk and packed some of it's fragrant contents into his pipe. After a conversation like that he really needed some smoke.

* * *

"Do you mind if I rest my tired bones here?" the bandaged old man asked as he settled onto the bench next to Sasuke and pulled his cane across his knees, "Beautiful days like this make me long for when I was young again."

Sasuke stared ahead toward the birds that were pecking the ground nearby.

"What did you want?" Sasuke asked.

"Do you know who I am?" Danzou asked slowly.

"Umm, no," Sasuke admitted as he glanced over at the old man with nervous eyes, "I mean, you're the one who sent me the message, but…"

Danzou nodded, "Then I've done my job. The short list of those who know my name is very short indeed," he said coolly, "I was a contemporary of the Sandaime, his superior before my injuries prevented me from taking the seat of Hokage. Still, I hold as much power as he does over this village."

Sasuke's eyes widened and Danzou chuckled softly, "This is a ninja village. Truly you don't expect things to be the way they seem. Consider yourself lucky. I've decided to take an interest in you. It would be a shame to see such talent go to waste, not when with a little assistance it could become the most powerful shinobi to walk the elemental nations," he said as his cobalt eyes slid smoothly away from Sasuke, having caught the body language he was looking for, doubt with a trace of hopefulness.

"How could you possibly help me? It doesn't look like you could do much in the way of a shinobi like that," Sasuke said while staring ahead toward the birds again.

"Do you know who taught the Legendary Sannin?' Danzou asked with a tiny smile.

"The Sandaime Hokage, of course. We learned that in the academy," Sasuke said.

"And indeed old Hiruzen did," Danzou said, "But he didn't understand one critical lesson of the shinobi way, one I think you know all too well already."

Sasuke's head whipped around to look at the old man suspiciously.

"Power comes with a price, and that you must be willing to pay that price to achieve it," Danzou said, "What the history books won't tell you is that Sarutobi's third student, Orochimaru, was expelled from the village for paying that price. They labeled him a traitor because of his research into bloodlines; however he was on the verge of a breakthrough that would have allowed Konoha to be the ultimate power. He was on the verge of being able to implant kekkei genkai, not through mere surgery, but by blood itself, like a natural user."

"And they kicked him out of the village for that?" Sasuke muttered with a scowl.

"It was because several of his patients died and the Hokage no longer felt comfortable with the experiment and needed a scapegoat," Danzou said.

"That Orochimaru must be incredibly powerful," Sasuke said.

"Yes, incredibly so. In fact I believe he is one of the top ten most powerful ninja in existence," Danzou said, "A shame he was a failure."

"A failure?" Sasuke gasped out, shocked that such a powerful ninja would be called such.

"Of course. He allowed his own emotional difficulties to interfere with his path to true power. He forgot the most vital part of being a shinobi," Danzou said, "At the time he was in line to become the Yondaime when the Sandaime stepped down, but since he was expelled his growth in power has slowed dramatically."

"What vital part?" Sasuke asked with rapt attention and Danzou knew he had him.

"A shinobi must be a figure of terror when he is not seen, but respected and honored when he is," Danzou said, "He forgot that the power that you can draw from yourself alone is limited by being but one. When you are honored and respected, then lesser people offer you their power for your own, to achieve your ambitions."

Sasuke stiffened, "The Uchiha clan has never needed other people's power," he said.

"Ahh, yes, your clan. How unfortunate. When Sarutobi heard that they were planning to seize power he had your brother trained to execute them. I guess it goes to show the true potential of an Uchiha when they are given the right opportunities," Danzou said, holding his silence the moment his gambit was played.

"I-Itachi… the Hokage ordered it?" Sasuke asked in a whisper.

"There was no choice. Your clan had collected nearly enough power through backdoor deals to rule Konoha uncontested. They became a threat to him," Danzou said, leaving his hand in that night entirely out of the conversation.

"I don't believe it. My clan would have never betrayed Konoha!" Sasuke hissed.

"They did not believe it was betrayal. They believed it was the destiny of Konoha to rule the elemental nations and bring peace to them," Danzou said, "And they knew that the generally peace loving Sarutobi would refuse to pay the price of true peace, rather than the cowardice and avoidance of the hardships that purchased peace he advocated. They forgot that the Sandaime wasn't always so peace loving, and that his arm was as strong as his ears were sharp."

Sasuke's fists clenched in anger and he felt his Sharingan activate in response.

"Your clan died because they failed to discover what Sarutobi taught to your brother," Danzou said, telling the full truth.

However he had no clue exactly what had allowed Itachi to control the taint for so long. It wasn't necessary to know either. He had a different, better solution, one that could both control the taint and make the kekkei genkai even more powerful.

"Your clan paid a price to create its kekkei genkai," Danzou said, "Immense power at a dangerous cost. Would you pay the same price?"

Sasuke was still numb from the man's words but he could definitely agree with that and nodded.

"The Sharingan's power causes a disorder that eats away at the mind. Think back to your youngest years. How many times have you heard that the Uchiha could not be defeated, that they were inherently better than all others?" Danzou asked, "And none have become Hokage thus far. None could stop your brother. The Sharingan does offer great power, but its side effects prevent those who are too weak from ever grasping it. That was what your brother was taught. That is what made him the most powerful Uchiha this village has seen since the death of the Shodai Hokage."

"You're lying. I'm not crazy," Sasuke hissed defensively.

"No, you're not, yet. But I'm sure that if you use your sharp intellect you can see the warning signs, from the crawling sensation in your head when you use it, to your growing anger and unwillingness to accept training," Danzou said with a smirk, "The side effect of its power has already begun to make you believe that you know more than one of the most elite jounin in the village."

Sasuke blinked rapidly for a moment before his jaw slowly opened and closed. If Kakashi had said something like that he would have ignored him, but this Danzou radiated a feeling of power that Sasuke had never experienced, even though he was a cripple. And it sounded so _true_ coming from him.

"I was the one who trained Orochimaru when Sarutobi refused to let him surpass the teammates that he had outpaced," Danzou said in a relaxed tone as he stretched his arms, "I can stop the side effects that have prevented every Uchiha save for your brother from reaching the level of power they deserve. And when the time comes, you will be my successor, and achieve what your ancestors always desired, to lead this village into a new era, as the ultimate power. Your brother's death will be barely a drop in the bucket, an event you will disregard in mere months after your vengeance is complete. You have a larger destiny Uchiha Sasuke. To establish both your clan and Konoha in the place they truly belong."

Sasuke's breath was hitched in his chest as he listened to Danzou's smooth voice, carried away by the raw charisma the man radiated.

"When your training is complete you will swat your brother like a gnat," Danzou said, "And that future is yours if you choose it. Otherwise we both walk away from this, I forget I saw you here, and anyone else will assume that it's the madness of your bloodline causing delusions that I would offer you such power."

The final needle to his pride was too much and Sasuke snapped out, "What do I have to do?"

"Ahh, you show that you're a true ninja already, asking the price before accepting," Danzou said, knowing that in truth the Uchiha was hooked, netted and landed already and it was a mere formality. Children, especially those who were lonely, angry, and perhaps a little emotionally and psychologically unbalanced were so easy to convince. 'Ne' would never have been as successful otherwise.

* * *

[AN:] I finally found some time and the inspiration to write this. I nearly missed my personal deadline of getting it up this Tuesday. Blame it on bad fanfiction. I read one that started out decent but descended into such horror that it threw off my game. I was terrified that it had completely killed my mojo, and it affected not just my fanfiction, but my serious writing as well.

It took quite a while to get that particular mania I need to write going again, at least long enough to pump out this chapter. With my inspiration (a symptom of a mental disorder, most likely) back I sat down and clacked this out in a few hours, but even still I'm not satisfied, even though it covers all of the points I needed to hit in this chapter. I'm going to run over it a few times to catch as many grammatical errors as possible, but as always, I won't do any deep editing until I'm finished with the first major segment of the story and I'm ready to fix the whole horrid mess I've made of it so far into a coherent whole.

I intend to write this story in one year (in story) segments that will hopefully bring closure at the end of each while leaving plenty of hooks behind. I won't leave any segment I've begun unfinished, but I'm telling you as a precaution, so you know what to expect if my life becomes so wildly hectic I need to put the next segment on hold for a while.

With the upcoming chuunin exams arc, expect things to kick into high gear in terms of development, even though I'll probably be moving even slower through the timeline in order to address all of the events that will be coming together for this arc.

It's currently still the first day of April in the story. The first segments of the chuunin exams begin in the second week of May, leaving the finale in mid June (first day of the seventh moon if I'm getting this right).

Oh, and Sasuke's broken ribs: I didn't realize the connection between that and my own until I went to post it. Don't think of it as an insert, think of it as inspiration. I needed a nagging injury that would be annoying (even when healed) but not a show stopper.

Now that my manic ranting has exceeded my actual posting in length I think it's time to wish you all a fond farewell and hope you keep digging Fool's Gold.

[/AN]


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